Memories of the Exiled Prince - A HENRY STORY 2
by LonelyHuntress
Summary: [PART2] Over the last six months, you have watched Henry master survival in the Dead Land. He has come so far – but when he foolishly gambles with a bond more fragile than it seemed he must learn its true value before it is too late. Yet fate is cruel and if we do not take care, our past will catch up to define our future. *** If you enjoyed part 1, here is the sequel!
1. Disclaimers

ATTENTION -

IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED YET, THIS IS A SEQUEL TO A DIFFERENT STORY OF MINE. PLEASE READ PART 1 BEFORE YOU DIVE INTO THIS ONE, OR YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND MUCH, SADLY.

CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE FIRST PART!

DISCLAIMERS:

\- This part of the story takes place between book 3 and 4 of TUC, for various reasons I have increased the amount of time that passes between these two from 6 months to 18 months, so don't be confused by that please

\- This story is only one side of a much larger and older TUC AU I made around 2015-16, it originally includes another OC of mine, but as she's part of the Questor-team I chose to leave her out of this story, as she wouldn't be contributing much

\- Nothing here is random! Because the AU this story takes place in is so old and big, everything is pretty well thought-through, most (important) incidents serve a purpose, just like most characters

\- There is a fanmade prophecy, the canon ones have not been changed though. Only interpreted differently

\- Yes, this is an AU, and in some cases, the AU goes beyond just the divergence in which Henry survives. I will not actively change canon beyond that, but non-confirmed/elaborated on things will be explained in a lot of cases

\- And finally - I am no survival-expert. I will mostly work with what happened in the TUC-canon, however there will be some things that haven't been done or confirmed as well, I will keep it in the realm of possibility though


	2. Limit

Once around, then up the mountain, five shots at the target – Henry clenched his teeth, deciding he'd stay up all night firing stone after stone were he to miss them all again – down the mountain, and the final loop.

The fingers of his left hand mindlessly fumbled at the weight he'd tied to his right arm until it clanked against the one on his left. He wouldn't miss them all again. Not this time. This time he would break his record.

Henry closed his eye and took a deep breath, falling into position and preparing to run, before angrily shaking his head to get the strands of loose hair that were too short to tie out of his face. His fists clenched around the strings of the weights, his eye flung open, and he fixated on the suspended stone bowl to his left.

Henry narrowed his eye one last time, then his hand shot up to pull the string connected to the plug sealing the hole in the middle. It gave way and Henry waited not for the gush of sand that instantly shot out, he darted forward together with it.

The exiled prince sprinted like a hundred rats were chasing behind. He blocked out the sand crunching beneath his bare feet, the calming of waves breaking on the beach, all he perceived was his own much too loud breathing as he ran along the coastline around the island.

When his stopwatch finally came into view again he bothered not to check it, he instead took such a sharp turn the sand sprayed to all sides under his foot, but he ignored it as well. Henry clenched his grip around the weights tighter and darted towards the mountain, the spot where he'd stuck a mark into the sand.

Henry picked up even more speed as he approached the steep wall and finally leaped as high as he could, grabbing onto a narrow ledge, some eight feet up. The bandages he'd applied protected his hands from the sharp rocks as he pulled himself up, fighting the weights that made his arms heavy as lead. Henry squinted when he at last felt a sting shoot through the right side of his face, yet it was nowhere near as severe as it had used to be.

His teeth clenched as he got a hold of the wall further up and he shoved all pain and discomfort aside to focus on climbing. Records weren't broken by whining.

He knew not how much time had passed when he pulled himself over the final hurdle to scramble to his feet on the narrow plateau as close to the top of the mountain as you could get. All he knew was it had been too much time.

He darted to where he'd left the slingshot so fast he nearly lost balance and missed it by a mile, before angrily gathering it up and loading it. The torch he'd placed here earlier quietly crackled, illuminating his target – a sloppily drawn white circle on nigh black stone.

Henry narrowed his eye and stabilized his hand. He felt the gravel beneath digging into his feet but he disregarded it and focused before raising the slingshot.

Miss. Miss again. Henry released an exasperated groan and cursed before raising the sling again, desperately fixating the circle. The next stone struck the line, smudging the chalk a little. Henry let out a suppressed scream of joy before reprehending himself – what was he so happy about? It had not even been a real hit.

Miss again. His teeth clenched so hard it hurt and he angrily wiped at his eye to not even give the uprising tears a chance.

Henry's last stone hit the circle, though more on the side. Two out of five, that wasn't bad overall, the exiled prince squinted in discomfort as he stuffed the sling into his belt. He tried not to think of how the circle was almost a foot in diameter and how he'd hit a mere dot flawlessly before, instead he kneeled to extinguish the torch and began making his way down.

The first twenty or so feet were extremely steep, more than once Henry found himself dangling from a ledge, holding on with a single hand, but he had no fear. Heights didn't scare him anymore, not like they had after the fall. Not when Thanatos was nearby, anyway.

As the thought crossed his mind Henry narrowed his eye glancing out at the quiet, glistening sea – where was the flier actually? He hadn't seen him since they'd eaten lunch, and now was almost dinner time. Why wasn't he here? Who would catch him if he fell now?

In the next moment Henry turned his focus back on the wall and shook his head. Fall. Who cared where the flier was, it did not matter because he wouldn't fall. He wouldn't fall so he needed nobody to catch him. Period.

The exiled prince frustratedly chased the thoughts from his mind and clenched his fist around the stone, focusing all his attention on climbing. Ledge by ledge, foot by foot, he descended down. A few minutes later the ground came into reach and Henry leaped the last ten or so feet, rolling off and scrambling up instantly, not even regarding his stopwatch with a single glance. Home stretch.

Once more, without bothering to stop and catch his breath, Henry began running. He felt the difference to the first lap around the island instantly, his lungs burned and his limbs felt like they were made from lead. The weights relentlessly pulled at him and Henry shook his head in anger to chase the fatigue. "Weak", he hissed through clenched teeth before gathering his last energy reserves and picking up speed.

As soon as his stopwatch came into view he zoomed in on it, sand began flying from under his feet and he nearly ran it over, unable to stop in time. He barely reached his hand up from where he had collapsed to close up the hole, before sealing it properly with the plug.

I have to look, he thought as he lied on the floor, combatting his own stinging lungs and fiddling with the ties of the weights. Both came off eventually and Henry slouched forward, cheek pressed into the cool sand, panting from exertion. But he had to look at the time.

"You're going to kill yourself at some point if you keep pushing this hard for much longer."

Henry did not even flinch as the voice sounded on his right. He felt like his body would split apart would he move a single muscle now.

"I mean it. Why even are you doing this to yourself, what are you gaining from –"

"Shut up", he finally hissed between gritted teeth and pulled himself up. "I can do what I want. If I already have to be stuck here, I can at least give myself the impression of success, can't I?" Only as he turned his head he spotted Thanatos, in the same moment a dead fish hit his leg. "Is it dinner time already?"

"Yeah – wait, have you been exercising all the time I was gone?"

Henry groaned as he slowly rose to finally check his time. "It's not like I had anything better to do." As he peered over the edge of the bowl he made a face. "What? Nearly all gone? I thought I was getting BETTER!" He smacked his hand against it in anger and the bowl began swaying back and forth where it was suspended.

"Don't you use less and less sand for that almost every time?"

Resigned, Henry plopped back down before reaching for his backpack that he'd left on the other side of the bowl. "Because I'm SUPPOSED to get BETTER!"

The flier silently watched as Henry slipped back into his shirt and set up a fireplace to cook dinner. Only when two of the four fish he had caught quietly sizzled on the grill he raised his voice again.

"How... how is this helping you, Henry?"

The exiled prince froze in the middle of poking one of the fish with a bone. "It's exercise. How is it NOT helping?" It wasn't helping. He squinted before admitting it in front of himself, at least. Not with the real issue.

It was helping to make him feel better, if anything – he barely recalled their first couple weeks here, he'd been in nigh-constant pain, unable to even get up for longer periods of time. It had driven him insane to be bedridden for so long, and ever since he'd felt strong enough he'd almost immediately picked up a workout routine that involved various exercises he remembered from training back in Regalia. Sit ups, push ups, stretching, and gymnastics every morning and evening, and this little parkour he'd set up for himself, whenever he felt like it in between.

Thanatos had claimed it was bad for him to exert himself physically after such an injury, but it wasn't like he had a way to stop Henry regardless. And working out at least gave him the illusion of improving his condition, the exiled prince thought.

Sure, his injury had healed, it hadn't really hurt in weeks, and his physical shape had enhanced significantly, but his shape had never been the issue. Not the real issue.

His gaze darted to where the entrance to their camp cave lied, and his tally. He vividly remembered day 20 when he'd ran out of space below and had to continue above. Then he remembered day 45 when he'd ran out of space on the right side and had to continue left. Sixty. Henry sighed and thought about tomorrow morning when he would be compelled to draw the... sixtieth mark.

"This... this is going to end in a debate about how long we're supposed to stay here, right?"

Henry's gaze met the flier again and he bit his lip before taking his first bite from one of the fish. Of course it would. Nearly all their conversations in recent times somehow ended in that.

"I don't understand why you're even so reluctant to leave", Henry sighed and cried as he accidentally touched the grill in the process of removing the second fish. "Your wing has healed ages ago, and –" He interrupted himself and lowered the hand he'd raised to cup the spot where his right eye had once been. "This is as good as it gets either."

"I am reluctant to leave", Thanatos inched forward until he lied beside Henry, "because you will be killed by the first enemy you encounter, out there. This island is...", he hesitated, "well, it gets old quickly, but it is safe."

Henry furrowed his brows and dug his fist into the sand. "Well, I'm TRYING, okay? It's not like I can CHANGE that!"

Killed by the first enemy you encounter, it rang in his mind, and Henry suppressed the urge to cover his ears with his hands and scream. Pictures of Goldfang's corpse flashed before him, pictures of a cave full with ferocious wasps, a tankard overflowing with enraged serpents.

"I once won a single-handed battle against a former general of Gorger's", he mumbled, staring at the sword he'd leaned on the wall beside the entrance to their cave with disdain.

Thanatos sighed. "I... I know. But losing an eye is serious business, you can't just rush back into action, as unprepared as you are."

"That's NOT THE POINT!" Henry angrily tossed sand into the flame that hissed and sizzled. "The point is", he suddenly sprung to his feet, "that it's not going to GET BETTER!"

Henry had no idea how far he'd run before he collapsed in ankle-deep water. The waves gently ebbed up and down though could not soothe his raging insides. Sixty days he'd pined away on this chunk of dirt – and what had changed? Henry narrowed his eye at the water and felt the seething urge to claw it out as well, at least he wouldn't have to look at the pathetic pile of misery he'd become anymore, then.

He'd find a solution – the memory of his own words had Henry feel like crying and laughing at once. A... solution. What SOLUTION? His hand rose to cup the right side of his face. There was no solution.

The sensation of scarred flesh was still unfamiliar, the tissue was sensitive, but it had healed well. Then again, perhaps it would have been better hadn't it healed at all.

"What... are you doing?"

Henry didn't look up as he heard Thanatos' voice behind him. "Leave me", he mumbled, desperately trying to suppress the tears. This was how it had gone for several weeks now. He would wait for Thanatos to go to sleep and then he would cry, only to feel so disgusted with himself afterward he found it hard to fall asleep at all.

The flier was indeed silent for so long Henry had nearly forgotten he was there. "You... don't want to spend the rest of your life here, I get that", he finally spoke on. "But I urge you to be reasonable."

Henry remained silent, only pressed his lips together even harder.

"Remember we once spoke of living with and without reason?"

"Yeah, except you don't LET me search!", the exiled prince at last exclaimed, falling backward until he lied in the shallow water. It gently swept around the outskirts of his hair and he closed his eye.

"That is not true."

As Henry opened his eye back up, he saw Thanatos' white face above him. "Searching doesn't always equal being out there in danger. Searching means you spend a portion of your life preparing for what's to come. What have you even done so far, in trying to better your fighting skills?"

Henry averted his gaze. He'd done... what was possible, he angrily thought, while knowing perfectly well his attempts, that had mostly consisted of occasional slingshot practice, had been lackluster, to say the least. "I... what CAN I even do?", he at last exclaimed, half-heartedly beating the waves with his hand.

"There is always something", the flier sighed, "it was you who announced you'd find a solution, was it not?"

"Can you stop that?!", Henry angrily hissed and turned, only to rise and curse after spitting out the wet sand that had ended up in his mouth. All the flier had ever done was reinforce his own flaws, not a single word of encouragement he had uttered, only gone on and on about what and how Henry could be doing things better. Was this really what bonds did? "I feel shitty enough, okay?!"

Thanatos winced a little. "Stop... what? I... I am trying to help, in case you were unaware."

"Well, you suck at it." Henry shook his head angrily until sand flew from it in all directions. For a moment they were both silent, then the exiled prince sighed. "Alright. What... what's your oh-so great suggestion?"

Thanatos was staring at the floor, before he defiantly raised his gaze again. "My oh-so great suggestion is, that you stop viewing this issue emotionally. You've been beating yourself up over it for months now, and it is only making you feel worse. Instead of running that parkour day and night, how about you attempt seriously practicing combat?"

Henry bit his lip, but the flier continued – "When have you even last taken up your sword? It must have been ages. Henry, this "solution" is not going to fall from the sky. You don't get anything for free in life, or at least, not anymore. Maybe it's time you learn to work for your gains."

Henry snorted, "Like I've not been working so far", but the flier shook his head. "I know you hate this island. I know you hate being trapped here, and I know you feel like you're good for nothing again. But I also know the Henry I've gotten to know never once allowed life to beat him down. The Henry I've taken in, and fought, and... and been a team with for so long will not stay down, not before the world has drained every ounce of life from his body, am I not right?"

"What about the Henry you bonded to?" For the first time the exiled prince raised his gaze to look at the flier who fixated the floor. A jolt of uncertainty hit him, and he asked himself why he had left that one out, out of all of them.

"That is... is what I meant. Team, bond, are they not the same in our case?" Henry only furrowed his brows. "Not really, no. But that's not the point right now." It's never been the point for you, he thought. He didn't bother counting the times the flier had seemingly purposely forgotten that very detail anymore. All he failed to see was... why.

It is not like it changes much... it is the same anyway... Henry dug his hand into the wet sand beneath and asked himself the same questions for the hundredth time – was it really just him to whom it had actually meant something?

"Right. I guess what I was getting at is that you need to begin working towards getting out of this rock bottom again. Your life isn't over, you know?", he tilted his head and the gaze in his amber eyes was sympathetic. "Don't keep treating it like it is."

Henry only let out a sigh. That's exactly what I've been doing, it flashed in his mind, and he squinted in shame. Getting up in the morning only to exercise, or when Thanatos tossed him out of his sheets, as he did more often than not, in recent times. Spending his day on pointless meddling. Going back to sleep.

"Have you ever considered learning to fight without your eyes altogether?"

Henry nearly broke into laughter at Thanatos' words.

"I'm serious", he urged. "I've heard of this one man who had lost his eyesight as a child due to some illness and later became a quite skilled warrior. Not anything comparable to those with eyesight, but he could fend for himself using his hearing only, at least."

"And how long did it take him to become that good?" Henry asked the most urgent question immediately.

The flier hesitated. "Some... ten years, or something, I believe", he quietly mumbled. "Could have been more, too."

"Pah!" Henry sprung up. "If you think I will rot away on this island for the next DECADE I've bonded to a fool!" He angrily kicked the water but nearly slipped. "I hate it! I HATE IT! I... I don't want to..." The exiled prince sobbed before the first tear rolled down his cheek to land in the water. He furiously wiped it away.

"C... come, will you? Let's go to sleep. Maybe we can find a solution tomorrow."

Henry glanced back at Thanatos and thought the flier had not looked this helpless in ages, before reluctantly trotting out of the water and back towards their cave. He knew they wouldn't find a solution tomorrow, nor anytime soon. Nor ever. The thought burned like hot iron. It was useless to remain on the beach though. Sleep was black and soothing, maybe going to sleep would indeed help. Help forget it all, Henry thought and began shuddering from the cold water.

"Get out of the wet clothes, will you?" Thanatos spread his wings and lifted off, to circle around where Henry had previously lit the campfire. "I'll be ahead." With that he disappeared in the entrance to their cave.

The exiled prince glanced after him with unconcealed jealousy. His wing had healed perfectly well – if you didn't look too close, you couldn't even see it had artificial tissue. But Henry's own injury would never be as before again.

The flier could of course go wherever he pleased, too. Henry angrily heaved sand onto the fire until it died. He could freely fly over the water, even to the mainland if he wanted. The exiled prince froze when he suddenly realized how much time Thanatos had spent out somewhere, in recent times. He recalled hours of prolonged absence, even today he'd been gone what had ended up being half the day. His eye narrowed as he looked back at the cave entrance the flier had disappeared in – what was he doing in that time?

Having fun without me, probably, Henry scoffed as he gathered up his scattered belongings. Being glad he isn't confined here like me. In the same moment, he reprehended himself, thinking Thanatos wasn't one to do stuff like that behind his back.

Henry realized he had always relied on the flier's honesty, and what kind of world was this if he couldn't trust his own bond anymore? My bond who's not ever told me what he's been doing, or even invited me to come along for at least a couple hours of flying. Henry shook his head. There had to be a reasonable explanation, he'd probably do best in simply asking.

Or maybe he just wants time away from me, he grimly thought, closing his hand around the hilt of his sword to store it away. If he left his hand hanging limp he could not even see the blade anymore, with his narrowed field of vision.

Time away from... The sword nearly slipped from Henry's hand as he recalled a conversation between Ares and Aurora he'd overheard a couple months before his exile.

I just feel like... some time away from him would do me good sometimes, you know? But am I not overstepping in wishing for something such as this? Ares' words rang clear as light in his head. We are bonds, after all. Bonds. They had been... bonds.

Henry narrowed his eye at the dark cave entrance. Even the memory of Ares' words stung like a knife to the heart – he hadn't understood at the time, why would his own bond need time away from him? And to this point, he failed to grasp it. Aurora never asked for time away from Luxa either.

Angrily, Henry shook his head. This was ridiculous. He sometimes disappeared for a couple hours – what was the big deal? Yes, it was out of the question Thanatos wasn't entirely sincere, but it was unfair to instantly assume he did what Ares had wanted, back then. Even comparing Thanatos to Ares was absurd. He and Ares had never been the way he and Thanatos were.

It was a... bond, was it not? This time it was, Henry bit his lip. It was nothing like the half-assed excuse for a friendship that had ended in mutual betrayal he'd shared with Ares. Even thinking something remotely comparable to that could actually happen to him and Thanatos was absurd. They were just... not like that. Even if they did occasionally fight. But in all honesty, who didn't?

Henry found himself confused as he didn't recognize the cave he was standing in. It stretched far to his left and right, maybe twenty feet on each side. He carefully took a step forward, attempting to assess where to go, when he made out the shape of Thanatos sitting on his left.

In the back of his head, Henry began to wonder how he could even see the flier. There was no light source in view. He opened his mouth to ask Thanatos when he saw the expression in the flier's eyes.

Henry froze, only on the side registering his bond's mouth was moving, like he was speaking, screaming something. Something to match the visceral panic in his gaze.

The exiled prince finally turned around to look for a source of danger, when the first gush of water swept him off his feet. Henry screamed, yet he heard no sound. He barely had time to ask himself how he had managed to not swallow water when something latched onto him. He smacked into Thanatos as the flier had dug a claw into his arm, they were helplessly dragged along by the stream.

The water wasn't icy, Henry realized, and almost crystal-clear. His hand firmly closed around Thanatos' claw as the water rose and rose, but when he turned his gaze upward again, Henry tore his mouth open in shock.

This time he did swallow water and fought to breach the surface. As he finally got his head out of the water and coughed up what he had swallowed he unbelievingly stared at the ceiling, maybe a foot above him. It was no ceiling – not really. It consisted of some transparent substance behind which he saw only white, gleaming void. Was it... glass? Henry squinted, how was there glass here?

He turned his head back down to spot Thanatos, to ask what the flier thought it was, when he processed his hand was empty. Death! He attempted to scream, but it was like he had lost the ability to control his vocal chords. His mouth opened and closed, yet did not produce a single sound. Death!

Henry's gaze darted back up as a shadow appeared above him. His hand could now reach the ceiling and he unbelievingly touched the transparent substance before jerking back from how cold it was. But he had seen correctly – there was a familiar figure on the other side.

Death?

The flier sat before him on the other side, staring down with an unreadable expression. Irritation rose in Henry as he clenched his fist before disregarding the strange cold and banging it on the ceiling. Death!

The flier remained motionless and Henry's irritation soon turned to panic. Death! DEATH! It became harder and harder to remain on the surface, soon the water would fill the entire cave and then –

DEATH!

Only seconds later Henry was entirely engulfed, an icy chill ran down his spine from the suddenly much colder seeming water. He banged his fists on the ceiling until they hurt, screaming Thanatos' name over and over, but it was of no use. The flier remained sitting motionless on the other side, not rushing to help, not scratching away at the surface to create an opening, not even going to look for one elsewhere. All his screaming did was cause Henry to swallow more water.

Eventually the exiled prince ran out of air and his vision blurred. Lights sparked before his eye and he could not even raise his hand to bang it against the ceiling anymore. His body grew limp and even though he was overwhelmed with panic he had no control over his body. All he could do was keep his eye on his bond, his bond who motionlessly watched him drown, as he felt himself being sucked into the black oblivion of unconsciousness.

Every fiber of Henry's body was overwhelmed with panic, convinced he was on the brink of drowning, as he shot up on his sheet. It was utter darkness around him and it took the exiled prince a couple seconds to understand he had been dreaming.

He still audibly gasped for air, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, only to notice his hand was trembling excessively.

"Henry?" The voice on his right belonged to Thanatos and the exiled prince managed to snap his fingers once, twice, to perceive the flier had dropped from his hanging spot to cower at his side.

"Y... you..." The image from his dream flashed in Henry's mind, the image of the flier watching him drown, but he angrily chased it. It had been a stupid nightmare. "I... I..." Before he had the strength to finish his sentence he broke into tears.

He felt Thanatos' presence at his side instantly and fell forward to wrap his arms around his neck. He had wept into the flier's fur for maybe a minute before he could muster up enough self-control to dry his tears.

"How many nightmares has it been, only this last week?"

Henry sobbed and shook his head.

"Too many", the flier spoke on, "yet I can't say I'm surprised, considering what you've been through."

The exiled prince rose and wiped at his face. "This wasn't like the others though." He squinted, forcing himself to remember the chaotic, terrifying pictures that had etched themselves onto his inner eye from the countless nightmares he'd had over the last sixty days. They had varied in grotesqueness and scenery and setting – yet they all had had one thing in common. "This one had nothing to do with my eye."

He sensed Thanatos raise his gaze. "It did not?"

Henry shook his head and shivered, before retelling the dream as best he could. He left out only the part about the flier watching him drown, from the other side of what must have been glass. He thought it would just make things awkward and uncomfortable.

"Well, you nearly drowned that day as well", Thanatos settled down beside him and Henry soon lied his head on his back before shutting his eye. "Still. I... I don't even really remember that part. I... can I dream about something I don't remember?"

Thanatos hummed pensively. "I'm not sure, but it hardly matters. It was a dream. You cannot beat yourself up over what it means or where it comes from, alright?"

Henry sniffed and pulled his legs to his chest. "Can you take me with you, next time you go out flying?"

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "Of... of course. I didn't... I mean, wouldn't you instantly get bored of aimless flying?"

The exiled prince managed a quiet laugh. "Is that why you never offered? Honestly I miss it a lot. Just flying, you know? Maybe it'll help making me feel less trapped here."

"I... that's... that makes sense, actually. I'll take you next time." The flier hesitated for a moment, "I... I don't want you to think I didn't offer because I didn't want you around, okay? Honestly, I didn't think you'd care for something as mundane as a couple rounds over the water, considering how much you whined on our trip over the waterway."

Henry's mouth curved into a smile. "That's fair. Then again, I should have asked sooner. But yeah, I did feel left out. Just a little."

Thanatos hummed. "We'll fly together, tomorrow. That sound good?"

"Yeah."

"Then try to go back to sleep now. It'll be morning before you know it."

Henry sniffed again and sighed before curling up in a tight ball and pressing his face into the flier's fur. Thanatos was right, it would be morning soon. They would fly together then.

His jaw still clenched as he failed to shake the bitter aftertaste the nightmare had left. It had been... just a dream. A dream he couldn't beat himself up over. Yet the image of Thanatos on the other side of the glass had etched itself so deep into his mind it haunted him for hours until exertion at last overwhelmed him and he slipped into what ended up being a couple hours of restless, light sleep.

Only when he woke up the next day, Thanatos was already gone. He'd always been getting up earlier than Henry ever since the exiled prince could think, still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat perturbed, considering the flier's promise last night.

Just as he'd slipped into his boots to go looking for Thanatos though, the flier came fluttering in through the entrance. "Henry, you have to come. The suppliers are here!"

The exiled prince's face immediately lit up and he dropped the backpack he'd just taken up. "You don't say! Oh, do you think they'll have those fruit from the jungle, the yellow ones?" He instantly stormed past the flier and ran the trek to the other side of the island on foot.

Supplies was just what they needed, honestly, with how much fuel he had used recently. Something other than fish for food would be great too, he thought, and picked up speed as he spotted the elongated, human-made boat that lied on the beach. An entourage of three moths hovered above the boat that, as he saw now, was packed with goods, as it had been the last two times.

Only a week after he and Thanatos had arrived here, he had learned the crawlers on the island had a contract with the flutterers who sustained them, in exchange for services from their kin on the mainland. They brought supplies and news, and had also been informed the famed Wielder of Light had taken camp on the island as well beforehand. It turned out both species revered him so much they had swamped him with goods even without payment every time they had been here so far, and Henry was not about to complain.

Thanatos' shadow darted over his head in that moment and the flier touched down next to the boat, exchanging greetings with the flutterers. Henry approached as well, eyeing what they had brought. Crates over crates of goods, and after he and Thanatos had helped unloading them, he finally peeked inside and rejoiced.

Tons of food – grain, dried beef, different types of mushrooms, and yes, even Henry's beloved yellow fruit from the jungle, among others. Then multiple barrels of fuel and a full crate of medical supplies – stacks of bandages, multiple containers with painkillers and disinfectant as well as a small bottle of antipyretic.

"We'll have a feast tonight!", Henry called as he hurled crate after crate over to the base of the mountain, to store them later.

"We will have the supplies to hold one, certainly", Thanatos responded and despite all they'd talked about yesterday, Henry couldn't help but approach the leader of the flutterers – "You're well-informed, right? Do you maybe know someone who could use mercenaries?"

Thanatos' head instantly shot up and he threw him an accusing glare from where he had just sat down a crate with food, but Henry ignored him. The sight of the boat, the means to get to the mainland, had fueled his desire to leave even more. And besides, the flier was his bond, not his parent – he could not tell him what to do. If I stay here a single day longer I'll go mad, Henry thought, eyeing the mountain with contempt before turning his attention back on the moth, who visibly hesitated. "Well?"

"Oh, oh no. Nobody thinks of that at the moment. It is not the time now."

Henry furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?" From behind he sensed Thanatos approaching, he must have heard the response too.

The flutterer tilted his head, exchanging glances with his party members. "Have you not heard? The Curse of the Warmbloods is upon us. It occupies the minds of everyone. It leaves no time for things that would require mercenaries."

"The... what now?" Curse of the Warmbloods – Henry furrowed his brows and thought the term sounded faintly familiar, though he had no idea what exactly it was or where he had heard it before. Whatever it was though, it certainly didn't sound like anything good.

"The Curse of the Warmbloods", the flutterer repeated, "your people call it – the plague. It came over the Dead Land a few weeks ago. The gnawers die in large numbers. Your kind fights it, though we hear both human cities have been befallen."

A plague...? Henry felt his chest tighten with unease instantly. How had he not heard of it yet – both the Fount and Regalia had been befallen, they said. His mind immediately flashed to everyone he cared about – Luxa, Nerissa, Vikus, Solovet, Mareth... He realized he was digging his heel into the sand anxiously. The list was nigh endless.

Then again – Henry pressed his lips together and shot a glance at Thanatos whose face was as aghast as his own – how could he have heard of it? He had spent the last two months on this isolated island among crawlers. And there was hardly any plague here.

"This... this is not good...", the flier beside him muttered, "Have you by any chance information on whether the nibblers are affected too?"

The nibblers! Henry spun to the moth, eagerly awaiting a response. He hadn't even thought about his friends in the jungle – but as much as he feared for his loved ones in Regalia, he thought he had more reason to fear for Teslas, Lovelace, Curie, Cevian, and all the others. They had not nearly the equipment and medical skills the doctors in Regalia had.

"Not that we have heard of. We prefer to stay hidden for as long as it lasts. We are not warmbloods, so it does not affect us, but it is still safer this way", the flutterer finally replied, and Henry and Thanatos exchanged meaningful glances.

"Looks like we might leave here sooner than anticipated after all...", the flier mumbled, visibly unnerved, and even Henry clenched his jaw nervously at the thought of the previously so eagerly anticipated departure. This was not the reason he had wanted to leave for.

"We'll go check on them, right?" Henry paced up and down before the entrance to their cave. "Like, we have to check on them. I don't care what you say about leaving, this is not about me anymore, it's –"

"Henry – Henry, yes, of course we'll go check on them. Do you hear me protesting?" Thanatos' voice was grave serious. "A... a plague... how – what – how did this ever even happen?"

"I don't care!" Henry took a stance before him. "We'll leave as many supplies as we can spare in the stash here, and fly for the jungle. Maybe they'll have more information as well. Though I have to... have to..." He wrung his hands anxiously and stared at the floor. "I just want to see them again. In general, too. The colony is safe enough, is it not?"

"Henry, for the second time, I am not objecting. Let us pack, and then let us leave. If you so want, we can stay there a while as well, if they are not affected. But you are right... there has seldom been a better time to leave than now."

Henry turned his attention on the supply crates again. "I'll... I'll make bread first, okay? To take with us. We can eat and then we can leave, I'm really hungry." To his own surprise, now that their departure was imminent, the thought of it had seized giving him joy.

Thanatos just nodded. "Do what you must. I am hungry as well, after we skipped breakfast today."

It took Henry several hours to finish up baking and the end product was corny and bland for he had no salt, but for sandwiches it would suffice.

Thanatos landed beside him with four fish just as the exiled prince pulled the bread from the stone he used as oven and prepared to store it in the flier's portable bags. "Smells like a success."

"Hopefully", Henry grinned before throwing some mushrooms in the empty oven. "How about we try it?"

They were both so hungry they finished lunch in only ten minutes and Thanatos had already spread his wings, asking "You ready to leave then?" when Henry remembered something. "I... wait, give me five minutes, okay?"

"Did you forget something?"

Henry ignored the question and made his way back into the cave. He was certain he'd packed all they'd need, even his coat – he wouldn't need it in the jungle but you never knew for certain where you'd end up.

He went on rummaging through some discarded leather pieces he'd meant to throw away at some point and finally picked out one that had the approximate right size. With it he stepped back out, to be faced with a confused Thanatos. Instead of asking, this time, the flier simply watched Henry as he pulled out Mys and cut the leather into his desired shape. When he was finally satisfied, a few minutes later, he raised and tied it around his head, before turning back to the flier. "Well, how do I look?"

The flier blinked in surprise, before tilting his head. "Not... bad, actually. Kind of suits you. Though... I mean, you've not worn one so far, why did you feel compelled to make an eyepatch now?"

Henry pressed his lips together as he fumbled with the leather patch. "We'll see people we know again now, that's why. You really think I'll let them see me with that abomination on my face? It'll only make the babies cry." He ignored Thanatos' concerned expression and made his way past the flier to look at himself in the water.

His reflection was somewhat blurry, the waterway wasn't an ideal mirror, but he instantly saw the patch had the effect he'd wanted it to have – while it didn't cover the scar completely, it made it look much less gruesome. And then – Henry tilted his head and his mouth actually curved into a smile – there was also the fact that it made him look sort-of unruly and raffish, like a true veteran outcast – someone like... the Death Rider.

He hadn't regarded the prophecy and its meaning much in recent times, but he thought the man he saw staring back at him from the water now at least looked the part. Henry's grin widened at the thought and he turned away, deciding he very much liked this new look for himself. "Let's just say even I find it looks better with than without eyepatch", he called in Thanatos' direction before finally mounting up.

"If you say so", the flier mumbled, his tone was concerned but he nonetheless spread his wings for lift-off.

The anticipated rush of joy at last engulfed Henry when the flier leaped in the air and performed an honorary round around the island, shouting "Run like the river – thank you for your hospitality!" to the crawlers who had assembled below them now.

"Run like the river!", Henry echoed and then turned his gaze away from the island. Not for a single moment he glanced back.

* * *

**[Attention - everything past this point is UNEDITED. I can not be held responsible for logical inconsistencies, plot holes, bad style, or anything, really. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.]**


	3. Reunions

The flight took them more than half a day, and Henry spent most of it sleeping. It had been time for bed anyway when they took off, so he drifted off very quickly.

When the exiled prince awoke, they were already flying through the glowing, living network of vines that made the Underland-jungle. Thanatos rested on the meadow with the flowers, before the Vineyard of Eyes, again, like when they had brought Platonius and baby Curie home, all that time ago.

Henry stared into the entrance to the Vineyard and remembered how scared he had been the first time through. He was still mildly concerned, but now he at least knew what he was dealing with. When he and Thanatos had lived with the nibblers, they had run countless errands within, as well as in and out of the jungle. They had had to cross the Vineyard around a dozen times, and they had gotten better and more efficient every time.

Henry wrapped both their noses and mouths in thick cloths that would help absorb the scent, and after they were ready, Thanatos asked – "You on foot or with me this time?"

After maybe their fifth time through, Henry had decided to try crossing it on foot, and had it done a few times since, but now he mounted up. Thanatos was faster than him, and he decided they should get to their destination as soon as possible.

Their flight went seamless as expected, and Henry had practiced holding his breath so much that he inhaled almost none of the scent. All he felt after Thanatos flew out again was a light spinning of his head and a ringing in his ears. It passed soon after.

Thanatos was now flying high above the ground, to avoid the network of plants at the bottom. Henry thought they must almost be there – he even thought he already heard the distant flow of water – when the flier's ears winced suddenly.

Henry was irritated at first, that usually meant rats, but rats never came to the jungle. He was about to ask what the matter was when Thanatos suddenly started diving rapidly until he almost hit the ground. Henry had his hands full holding on, and when he had regained enough focus to look ahead, he nearly screamed in surprise.

Thanatos had only barely brushed over the head of a human, who now ducked and cursed. Henry only had enough time to ask himself what a human was doing here, and why his clothes seemed so strange, when Thanatos landed on the ground, only a few feet behind the stranger.

The human jerked around, assuming a defensive position and clutching onto a bag he wore over his shoulder. He drew no weapon though. Henry's gaze met his, and for a second the two men stared at each other speechlessly.

"Oh look who's still alive", Thanatos broke the silence, his tone would have sounded cheerful to anyone else, but Henry heard the slightly bitter undertone in the voice of his bond.

Henry's mind reeled. He saw the face of the man – haggard, aged, unshaven and scarred, yes – but the exiled prince would have recognized it among a thousand others still.

"Hamnet...", a whisper escaped his throat, as he continued to stare at him, having trouble believing his eyes.

Hamnet, who had, so far, mustered him with caution and reserve, widened his eyes at the sound of his name.

"What... who..." He started stammering, and Henry slid off Thanatos' back.

"It's good seeing you, Hamnet. It's been a while, even in outcast-terms." Thanatos spoke again, and Hamnet's gaze darted over to the flier.

"Indeed. And you are not alone either – the flier that once told me he would never relish the company of a human again appears now with someone who seems to know my name."

"Oh – I actually didn't think about how you two could know each other. My mistake", Thanatos chuckled, "though, he was barely – what, six - when you left."

Hamnet's gaze lied on Henry again, and for a second the exiled prince feared he would recognize him – until he suddenly asked himself if that would even be so bad. Hamnet didn't look like he had the intention of ever talking to people who weren't supposed to know he was alive again. Not after presumably – what – living out here for ten years? Henry didn't know for sure, but even Thanatos had called him an outcast. So it was probably what he had been doing.

His brows furrowed as he mustered Henry a while longer. Meanwhile, his flier apparently had enough of waiting – "Eh, I doubt you would recognize him – not after more than ten years, and with that eyepatch too. Wouldn't you agree, Henry?"

The exiled prince froze, and Hamnet's eyes widened. "... Henry?" His voice sounded unbelieving, though as he eyed his opponent further, recognition suddenly flashed in his eyes – "You... YOU?"

For a moment, the two outcasts stood face to face, and Henry realized he was now slightly taller than Hamnet. "Me", he grinned eventually, "fate can be a bitch sometimes, can't it?"

Hamnet took a few steps forward and grinned as well. "Goodness me, you... I would not have recognized you for the world. You are –" His eyes darted over to Thanatos again, "You and Thanatos?" To Henry's surprise, Hamnet chuckled, "you know what, it shouldn't surprise me. It really shouldn't."

He looked over to Henry again and after a short glance at his eye and the roughish clothes and the scars, he furrowed his brows. "Henry, what in the name of every single vine in this jungle are you doing here? Why aren't you in Regalia, and how do you know Thanatos?"

Henry sighed. "Long story. Very long story – and one I don't really like sharing if I'm being honest." He sighed – "Can... can we just settle on the fact that I have made a mistake recently, and that, at the current moment, I live out here?"

Hamnet's eyes showed curiosity, but he didn't ask. Much like Henry didn't ask any of the questions about his own story that burned on his mind. Nobody knew why Hamnet had left or what had happened to him, and Henry had made a big effort in the past to find out, yet to no avail.

Eventually, Hamnet turned away and tugged at the bag, that Henry only saw now, was filled with fruit and mushrooms. "As surprising and – yes, nice – as this encounter was, I need to get the food back to the others now. They'll be waiting for me."

"Others?" Henry was confused. Was Hamnet talking about the nibblers? Did he live with them perhaps?

His opponent sighed. "Well, believe it or not, your cousin is currently resting at the spring close to the nibbler colony, together with two Overland-siblings, their fliers, two rats and a crawler."

Henry, who had already started climbing onto Thanatos' back again, slipped and almost fell over from surprise. "E – excuse me?!"

Hamnet laughed. "That is also a long story. Why don't you accompany me and ask her yourself? She –" he hesitated. "Wait, hold on – they said you were..." His eyes darted back to Henry.

"... dead? Yes, I know", he sighed, "and I'd like to keep that up if possible", Henry quickly added.

First of all – Luxa and the Overlanders were alive. He had been worried something might have happened to them at the Tankard. But what in the world were they doing here? Just when he had thought Hamnet could know about him because there was no chance he would ever talk to anyone who wasn't supposed to know. What luck.

Hamnet's gaze was even more curious now, but he still didn't ask. "Well, as little as I understand all this, I will respect your choice in this matter. After all, I'd ask the same from you for myself", he smiled, "I will make sure not to mention having seen you."

He was about to turn away and leave when Henry called after him – "Hold on... I want to know! Does it have anything to do with this plague?" It was the only explanation he could think of. He vaguely remembered a prophecy about the warrior that spoke of a plague, was that why they were here? Was this another quest?

Hamnet turned around and grinned – "Come and ask them yourself. Provided you believe they won't recognize you." With that he disappeared between the vines, leaving Henry and Thanatos behind.

Gregor was staring out into the jungle. He watched the fire for a while, that was already dying down, and then started digging his fingers into the sand, mindlessly.

He couldn't sleep. Hamnet had told them to go to bed and announced that he and Ripred would go look for food. They had taken off in different directions soon, leaving him, Boots, the bats, Luxa, Temp, Frill, Hazard and Lapblood on the beach.

He could feel a little body against his left side, and ran his hand through Boots' curls carefully, as to not wake her up. She was sleeping peacefully, next to her Temp, a few paces ahead Lapblood, Frill with Hazard curled up on her back, and the bats that had snuggled together to sleep. Pressed against Aurora's side was Luxa, she had her face buried in her bond's golden fur. Gregor couldn't make out whether she was sleeping or not.

Everything was quiet. Almost too quiet. Gregor had almost gotten used to the constant chirping and cheeping that filled the jungle, but this part of it was much quieter. It felt almost like they were in some sort of safe haven, shielded from the rest of the slumbering death trap that was the Underland-jungle.

Gregor sighed and tried to not count the days again. The days he had spent in the Underland so far. He knew that they had to be traveling for less than a week, but he couldn't tell exactly, as his memory of the time after they had lost the water was blurry. So many other thoughts suddenly clogged his mind, his mother and Ares, that were still waiting in Regalia, counting on them. Howard and Andromeda – how sick were they by this point?

Just when Gregor was seriously considering standing up to get a drink and distract himself from the nagging thoughts, he heard a rustling coming from the jungle.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Aurora raise her head. Nike was too gone from the painkiller to notice. Lapblood shifted in her sleep but did not wake up.

Gregor's heart started beating out of his chest. He instinctively pulled Boots closer, but then he saw it was only Hamnet, who returned from his food gathering trip. He noticed Gregor was awake and shook his head – "I thought I told you to go to sleep", he scolded.

Gregor shrugged. He rose up to help Hamnet with the heavy bag, didn't look where he stepped and tripped over the remains of the fire, that had died down. Gregor lost balance and with a scream, plummeted into the outskirts of the lake around the spring.

Everyone jerked up at the splashing and the yelling. Even Nike raised her head, still dazed. Lapblood started cursing and Temp had scurried over to Boots, who was about to start crying because her sleep had been disturbed so abruptly.

Gregor cursed, trying to shake the water, and Hamnet laughed, "Well, at least you'll get to meet the guests immediately now", Gregor heard him say.

He was about to ask what he was talking about, when a different voice, that was most certainly not Hamnet's and yet a male human voice, spoke – "Next time, how about you just stay put if you can't even watch your step?"

All heads turned in the direction of the voice, Gregor saw now that everyone was awake. Frill hissed and Hazard, on her back, ducked. Luxa reached for her sword, Lapblood cowered down, ready to attack, and Temp shielded Boots. Gregor himself was too taken aback to think of looking where he had left his own weapon.

Standing on the very same stones where he had seen Luxa for the first time, while in the process of drowning in quicksand, were the silhouettes of a lean, tall human and a cowering bat. Gregor saw the human was putting his hands to his hips, and Hamnet smiled.

"Well, I wanted to wait to introduce you originally, but thanks to Gregor, you get to meet the guests now."

"Guests... what are you talking about?" Luxa was still gripping her sword, "Who are they?"

The newcomers didn't move. Instead, Hamnet walked over to the remains of the fire, poured new fuel in, and relit it. "Well, what are you waiting for? I'm pretty sure they are all eager to meet you."

The bat moved first. He leaped off the stone and landed gracefully, close to the fire. When Gregor saw his face, he instantly recognized him – only one bat he had ever seen had this distinct white stain on his face – "Thanatos?", he asked, eyes wide open. It's the Death Rider, he thought instantly, the image of a man with a mask from a rat skull and a flaming sword, riding on the neck of a serpent, came to mind. Could it be...?

His gaze darted over to the human, who now leaped down to the floor and strolled towards the fire as well. Lapblood and Frill were still assuming attack positions, but Boots – out of all – jumped to her feet and waddled over to the newcomer, latching to his leg instantly.

"Fur!", she cried joyfully. And indeed – he still wore the same fur boots he had, back on the waterway. He voiced a suppressed scream when he felt Boots cling to his leg, and Hamnet chuckled. "Well, someone's a fan of your footwear, it seems. Not that I can blame her."

He finally stepped close enough to the fire so that Gregor could see his face for the first time. Back on the waterway, he remembered the Death Rider had worn a mask made from a rat skull the entire time, but now, his face was very visible to everyone.

He had the distinct features of an Underlander – the pale skin, and the white-blond hair – he was younger than Gregor had assumed at first – if he were to guess he would say he was about Howard's age.

His face was stern and meager – his cheekbones stood out, Gregor saw several scars, it clearly gave away he didn't live an easy life – and yet he was still noticeably good looking and his eyes had a certain, almost mischievous, glimmer in them. His hair was longer than even Hamnet's, he wore it tied to a ponytail on the back of his head, with several loose strands framing his face. For a second Gregor thought he reminded him of someone, he would not have been able to tell who though.

But something wasn't right – Gregor stared at the Death Rider in shock, as he noticed did everyone else too. He tried to remember if he had seen two eyes through the eye sockets of the skull mask last time, he thought he did – but when Gregor looked at him now, the right side of his face was covered with an eyepatch of leather, showing above and below the outskirts of what appeared to be a terrible scar.

"It is you!" Luxa called at last – she could only see his left side from where she sat. When she leaped up, dropping her sword, he turned around and she winced back noticeably. Her eyes widened in shock – "Your... eye...!", she stammered.

For a second, she squinted her eyes, as if she had had the same feeling of recognition, but her attention was held by the eyepatch.

The Death Rider gave a crooked smile. Again, Gregor thought he had seen that smile before, and yet it didn't come to him where.

"Oh, right – you all don't know that. Well", he shrugged, "turns out that's what happens when a serpent bites you in the face. And before you ask – no, getting that information was not worth it."

Lapblood shifted her weight from one foot to the other, teeth still bared – "Okay, but who exactly ARE you?"

He turned around to her, giving the same smile – "Me? I am the Death Rider, prophecized lone wolf, part-time mercenary and quester, resided in the Dead Land – usually – at your service!" He lifted an imaginary hat to her while giving a small bow.

Lapblood was unimpressed, but both Luxa and Hamnet – even Thanatos – giggled a little.

"Ahh... so YOU are that "Death Rider" I keep hearing so much about – really? Who'd have thought." A different voice suddenly sounded from the darkness, and everyone turned their heads.

Gregor could make out the silhouette of Ripred, standing in the shade, his eyes on the outcast, who spun around as well.

At the sight of Ripred, he winced. "YOU are here?!" Gregor heard the unease in his voice and Thanatos was at his side instantly, eyeing the tall rat carefully.

Ripred chuckled. "Oh yes, I am. And so are you, as it seems. Care to explain?" His eyes were still on the outcast, who exchanged glances with Thanatos.

Gregor suddenly realized Ripred had a point. As nice as it was to see that the Death Rider was alive and well – besides the eye – he realized he had no idea what he was even doing here.

It was finally Thanatos who answered – "We were on our way to visit the nibblers, that live here, when we stumbled upon Hamnet. We are both acquainted with him, so we talked, and he invited us to come and meet his little entourage here."

"I see – friends with the mice, are you? Well, Luxa over there will relate to that. Won't you, Your Majesty?"

Luxa, who had approached them in the meantime, stared at the outcast, still, as if she was trying hard to remember what he reminded her of. "You know the nibblers?"

He turned to her. "We used to live here, actually. Like, a while ago we spent three months here."

Luxa's eyes widened. "They never mentioned you..." In response to his questioning look, she explained that she had stayed with them herself over the course of the last month.

"Well, it looks like you got a taste of the life out here as well", he grinned at her.

Gregor saw them standing face to face, he was more than two heads taller than her, and yet, in the eerie light of the fire, he thought for a second that they looked similar in a way. The resemblance wasn't as striking as the one with Hamnet, and when the Death Rider turned, Gregor could have sworn he had imagined it.

Maybe all these people had started to look similar to him now. He shook his head, trying to stay focused.

"We might as well eat breakfast now", Hamnet shrugged, "if everyone's awake anyway." He fetched his cooking utensils and started grilling fish over the fire.

"Want some of this?" The outcast grabbed his bag and fetched a loaf of bread. He grinned at the questers, "How about some sandwiches?"

Hamnet, Lapblood, and Hazard, who had now slid off Frill's back and joined the group around the fire, frowned.

Gregor furrowed his brows too, and so did Luxa – "You... how do you know this term?" She threw Gregor a glance, "I had not heard of it before Gregor told me, during our journey to save his father."

Ripred, who had now stretched out beside the fire, yawned audibly. "Oh, he most certainly caught it when he was resting on your boat last time. Didn't you? At least Gregor told me, that happened, when he brought the Bane to me." The glance he threw the Death Rider had something challenging but also knowing. Did Ripred know something they didn't?

The outcast turned to him "Oh, yes – that's exactly it. Gregor mentioned it and it stuck with me, because, you know, it's pretty striking!" For a second Gregor thought his voice sounded nervous, but then he immediately turned back to help Hamnet prepare the food, so Gregor left it alone.

About ten minutes later the entire group was assembled around the fire, eating grilled fish and sandwiches with mushrooms and fruit. Hamnet had introduced Hazard and Frill to the Death Rider, the little boy had stared at him, visibly fascinated.

Aurora and Nike had exchanged words with Thanatos, while Gregor noticed the latter, still somewhat dazed from the painkiller, kept throwing him glances even now. When it came to Lapblood, Gregor himself had taken to telling her how they had first met the outcast on the waterway, and she seemed like she didn't really care whether there was one more or less human present.

Boots had constantly been tugging at his fur boots, and Gregor had to eventually separate her from him almost forcefully. He had sent her to play with Temp, and soon Hazard and Frill joined them.

The bats, including Thanatos, had decided to go back to sleep, to be better rested for the journey, and because the two females were still injured. Gregor thought he heard Nike mumble something about Thanatos to Aurora, but he was hesitant to ask, in case she would think he was eavesdropping.

Who remained around the fire were the two Rats, Hamnet, Gregor, Luxa, and the outcast. They quietly finished off their meal before the Death Rider finally asked what the Overlanders were doing here.

Ripred started explaining the Prophecy of Blood, the plague and the quest for the cure, which was located in the Vineyard of Eyes. "We will reach it tomorrow, presumably."

The Death Rider shook his head. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"How would that matter to you?" Ripred still fixated him curiously.

"Well, Death-, I mean, Thanatos and I have crossed the Vineyard so many times now, that we would have surely come across it by now."

Everyone stared at him now. "You... you crossed it... many times? Not even I did –", Ripred interrupted Hamnet – "Oh, I am sure he has. He has lived here, so he says. Well, speak up, lad, how is it?"

The outcast chuckled. "In one word – creepy. It's... ah, it's hard to explain. You'll see what I mean."

Gregor shifted uncomfortably. He thought the whole jungle was creepy, and he had no desire to go to a place that was so bad, even a veteran like the Death Rider found it uncomfortable.

"Oh, I am sure we will", Ripred grinned, "And I am assuming, you will as well?"

Luxa's head darted up. "What?"

Hamnet pondered. "If he has experience with the Vineyard, we should request his help, don't you think? I am not an expert on it myself, I don't have the best idea as to what we are dealing with, myself, to be honest."

Luxa eyed the outcast. Gregor remembered how she had demanded he left, instead of letting him help kill the Bane as he had offered. But he had also saved her and Aurora, and apparently sacrificed his eye for it, in the Tankard.

"You can... lead us?", she asked, staring at him.

He turned his head to her. "Oh, so all of a sudden you WANT my help. I remember a time when you ordered me to leave when I offered it."

Gregor saw Luxa biting her lip and look away. She clearly felt guilty, and he eyed the Death Rider, thinking whether that had really been necessary. Then again, she kind of had it coming.

The Death Rider didn't wait for an answer, instead, he sighed. "I can not decide that without Thanatos. You will have to wait for him to –", "...for him to what?", a voice interrupted him and a head appeared between the outcast and Hamnet, one with black fur and a white face.

They both jumped and Thanatos chuckled. "Wasn't tired", he claimed, while lying down next to the Death Rider. "So, what is it that you can't decide without me?"

His Rider threw him a glance. "Luxa just asked us to lead her through the Vineyard."

The bat's eyes jolted in her direction. "Did she now?"

Then he glanced at the Death Rider. They exchanged a few words, too quiet for anyone else to understand. After a short pause, the outcast raised his voice – "Yes, we can lead you.", he looked around for a second. "Under one condition."

Luxa shifted nervously. "What condition?"

His smile faded. "If we find your cure, and if you manage to synthesize a vaccine in Regalia – we want it."

Silence.

Luxa exchanged glances with Gregor and Ripred, finally Hamnet, yet she remained silent.

"I believe that is a reasonable price, your Majesty. After all, what will you do if he falls ill of the plague, and can not save your royal hind next time a serpent decides it wants a queen for dinner?" Ripred's tone was loaded with sarcasm, and Luxa shot him a death glance.

Eventually, she turned to the outcast again – "If that is your price, so be it", she decided.

It was about half an hour later when everyone had finally settled down again. Hamnet had decided that that hadn't been breakfast after all, more of a midnight snack, and ordered them all back to sleep. The journey would be arduous enough, he said, and nobody complained.

Least Gregor, who had not slept a single second yet. He had just fetched Boots and was about to curl up somewhere with her, when he saw Luxa, sitting, leaning against a rock, watching the outcast.

He had also gone to sleep, he and Thanatos had curled up in a ball on the other side of the beach. For a second, Gregor eyed him – he didn't wear the fur coat from last time anymore, understandably so, as it was so hot in the jungle. Instead, he was dressed in a sleeveless leather vest, around his lower arms he wore gauntlets and strapped to the many belts he had, were several pockets and bags.

He had taken off the boots for the night, Gregor assumed it had to be terribly hot with them. He remembered his own agony before he had started wearing Hamnet's shoes, and his boots didn't even have fur.

Gregor's feet automatically carried him to Luxa, and he sat down beside her. She threw him a short glance but continued staring at the Death Rider.

"I know this sounds silly", she finally raised her voice, "but something about him... I don't know, it seems... it seems almost like I know him from somewhere. I can not put my finger on it though."

Gregor nodded. She felt the same, then. He told her he had had the feeling as well and she smiled a little.

"It is impossible, is it not? He... something in the way he looked at me earlier, in that smile..." Luxa seemed like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"He... what?" Gregor carefully asked, he was curious, but he didn't want to force it out of her either.

Luxa averted her eyes. "For a second... he reminded me...", she sighed, "...of someone I used to know. I don't even know why or how my brain made that connection, it is utterly ridiculous, but still."

"Why is it ridiculous?" Gregor had no idea who she was talking about, but she seemed so sad all of a sudden, that for a second he thought of embracing her, decided against it immediately though. How would something like that make him look?

"Because the person is dead." Luxa's response was resolute like she had noticed her own vulnerability and attempted to cover it up.

"Oh." Gregor decided he wouldn't ask more. She clearly didn't want to talk about it, and yet his mind was reeling. Was it one of her parents, maybe? Or a different relative, perhaps one he had never heard of?

Before his mind could wander off any further, he stood up. If he wouldn't leave now, he'd never get to sleep. "Well, good night, Luxa, see you in the morning!"

The last thing he heard, before finally joining Boots on the floor, a few feet away, was her, whispering "Good night" back.


	4. Old Tales

When Henry opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the chirping of the jungle around him. Thanatos was already up, like always, he saw him over on the other side of the clearing, talking to Hamnet.

The rest of the group was still soundly sleeping. He saw Gregor with Boots, a few feet away from Luxa, Temp half-hidden behind a rock and the two rats on the other side of what had remained of the fire. The two fliers had snuggled together not far from them and the lizard, Frill, with Hamnet's kid Hazard on her back, slept soundly, close to the curtain of vines.

Henry slowly rose, making an attempt to be as quiet as possible. Thanatos heard him anyway and turned his head. The exiled prince strolled over and threw the two a "Good morning".

Hamnet smiled and returned the greeting – "I suggest we let the others sleep an hour or so more. We will all need the rest, if I understood you correctly, yesterday."

Henry nodded. "The Vineyard is not a place to mess with. Well, unless you're suicidal like that."

Hamnet nodded. He pondered for a second, then turned back to Henry – "Would you mind filling me in on the most important things one should know, while we wait? I don't like the thought of going to a place like that entirely unprepared."

So the three outcasts sat down on the rocks before the curtain of vines and Henry and Thanatos started telling the story of their first trip through and how it had gone.

Not long after, the first nibbler poked his head out of the curtain, presumably having heard the sound of talking. Henry had wanted to wait until Hamnet decided to wake the group to go and greet them, but as that nibbler turned out to be no other than Platonius, it took care of itself.

Platonius immediately fetched Lovelace and Lovelace brought Curie. Henry eyed the white mouse, completely taken aback by how much she had grown. He remembered the baby he had been able to carry in a single hand and shook his head at the nibbler girl before him, who was now almost half his size.

She and Thanatos shared a warm greeting, the two had always been very close. Henry sat down with Lovelace to tell her what had happened, especially as to how he had lost his eye.

Someone must have gone and informed Teslas, as the inventor soon poked his head through the curtain as well.

He stared at Henry's eye in shock, and after hearing what happened, he apologized – depth perception problems because of a missing eye were nothing he could something about. He revealed that he had made vision aids in the past, during his time at the Fount, but those were simple constructions with lenses for people who had trouble seeing up close or in the distance.

Henry shrugged, he had not really expected him to be able to do anything anyway. The nibblers brought some of their own food resources to share with the humans, Hamnet soon made a fire and started cooking.

Thanatos sat down with Curie and Lovelace, telling them more stories of what had happened to him and Henry, and Teslas and the exiled prince disappeared into the inventor's workshop to discuss the workings of the new ignifer pellets and a few of Henry's new ideas for tools to build in the future.

Around an hour later, Curie poked her head into her father's workshop to tell him and Henry that breakfast would be served soon. The inventor excused himself, he said he would stay inside, while Henry followed Teslas' daughter back to the clearing.

When he exited through the curtain of vines he saw Luxa sitting on the stones, playing with a couple mouse pups. One of them was grey, the other light brown, and she seemed to know them both well.

Next to her, sat another familiar figure – Henry recognized the crème–colored fur of Cevian and immediately waved at her. Luxa watched their reunion, eyeing him curiously.

"You truly did live here, didn't you?" Her tone was sympathetic now, and Henry nodded.

"For around three months. Are you two friends?" He pointed at Cevian, and Luxa nodded. "It was her who found me and Aurora, she brought us here."

Henry eyed Cevian, who understood the silent "thank you" and smiled at him. "Well, her and I once fought an army of cutters with nothing but the two of us, a flaming sword, and a colony of crawlers." Henry grinned.

Luxa's head jerked up. But before she could say anything, a different voice sounded from behind Henry – "A colony of crawlers? YOU fought alongside a colony of CRAWLERS?"

Henry turned around and stared at Ripred. The rat eyed him and grinned a little. Henry felt uneasy under his gaze. There was something about Ripred's presence that made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was the way the scarred rat was looking at him, maybe –

Before Henry could finish the thought, he heard Hamnet call for breakfast. The group assembled around the campfire and the nibblers joined them. Lapblood threw them a dismissive glance, Ripred seemed not entirely happy either, but both Luxa and Henry insisted, and the rats stopped their accusing looks at the sight of food anyway.

Hazard soon found himself surrounded by the pups that had previously played with Luxa. The grey one was called Scale, the brown one Cube – to Henry's surprise Hazard soon started talking to them in their own tongue. He fed them pieces of fish and would continue asking them questions about their life here.

Everyone else was just kind of sitting there, Luxa and Gregor had started talking and Boots had run off with Temp – Frill watched over them – but the rats, the fliers and Hamnet were clueless as to what Hazard was saying.

Henry was holding back at first, but when Cube told Hazard Luxa had been the one who had given him his name, he couldn't prevent a surprised "huh?"

Everyone stared at him – especially Ripred and Hazard. The boy eyed him curiously – "Can... can you understand them?"

Henry grinned. Well, maybe at least someone would be impressed by his new language skills – he answered "Yes, and I can also speak it" in nibbler tongue.

Hazard's eyes started shining and everyone else was taken aback even more. For a while, Henry joined the conversation and found out that the pups were siblings and Luxa had been allowed to name one of them.

He was in the middle of complaining how he hadn't been allowed to name anyone when he overheard Ripred talking to Hamnet – "Now would you look at that, not only has he apparently fought at the side of crawlers, he also speaks a different language. What will we discover next? That he flies without his bat?"

Henry considered bringing up his echolocation training but decided he didn't need to prove anything to the scarred rat. He would use it whenever he needed it, and it wouldn't be only for impressing Ripred.

For a while, the others were quiet. Only the two fliers, Nike and Aurora, were whispering with each other. Finally, it was Nike who turned to Thanatos, who had settled down a few feet away from them – "Ohh... excuse me, but would you be so kind as to tell me how you first met Aurora, Luxa, and Gregor – not that you have to, but I have to admit, I am curious!"

Henry thought the way she talked now was more-than-usual over-the-top polite, like, who did she try to impress here?

Thanatos turned to her and sighed. Henry nudged him in the side, "oh come on, socialize a little. Aren't you fliers supposed to be super social?"

Thanatos threw him a death glare, but reluctantly turned to Nike and Aurora and started talking. Henry saw Nike was listening almost adoringly, her eyes big and round and shining, filled with something like – admiration? Aurora turned back to her meal, she had been there after all.

Henry was about to start wondering what Nike's deal was when he felt someone cautiously touching his shoulder – "As much as she is interested in our first encounter, we are in what happened after you left."

Henry turned around and saw Luxa, behind her, Gregor, Ripred, and Hamnet were looking at him as well.

Now it was Thanatos who threw Henry a spiteful glance, the exiled prince didn't really mind though. He turned to the questers and started talking. He described how Thanatos had saved his life and carried them out of the Labyrinth. Hamnet turned out to be incredibly impressed by the way the spinners had fixed Thanatos' wing, he admired it for a while and so did the others. Luxa's eyes were round and big when she heard he had flown in this state, even carrying his rider, but Hamnet didn't seem surprised. All he said was "Well, nothing's changed in that sense, then."

At the mention of the two bonding, Luxa and Gregor exchanged glances.

Henry remembered they had been there when both the flier and he had claimed bonding was out of the question for them – but then Luxa suddenly broke into applause and Gregor, Hamnet and Ripred followed her example.

Thanatos stopped mid-sentence, and both of them exchanged embarrassed looks. They had tried not to make a big deal out of it, and as flattering as the acknowledgment was, it was also a little uncomfortable.

When they finished breakfast, Henry had finished his story too, and from then on Gregor took over describing what had happened in the Labyrinth and why he hadn't killed the Bane.

At the mention of Mareth losing a leg to the serpents, Henry had to hold back his anger. He had always been fairly close to the soldier, they had trained together and Mareth's guidance had helped him beat the blood ball challenge more than anything else.

When Gregor described how he had brought the Bane to grow up with Ripred, Henry chuckled. "Aww, Ripred's a daddy now, how adorable!"

He was prepared for the lash from the gnawer's tail this time and managed to duck so that the hit missed. For a second, Ripred stared at him surprised, then he grinned. "Not bad. But use the word "adorable" for me once more and I'll claw your other eye out as well."

Henry just laughed.

When Gregor was done, Henry pondered a little. He watched a visibly excited Nike bombarding an at this point annoyed-looking Thanatos with questions and suddenly asked himself why she was even here.

"Uhm... hey Gregor, don't you have a bond? Why is Nike your flier this time? Or is she not?"

Gregor's smile dropped instantly and fear suddenly grabbed hold of Henry's heart. He couldn't ask for Ares directly, but something about the look on Gregor's face now made him scared of the truth.

"Yes, but..." Gregor looked away, then sighed, kneading his hands – "Ares, I mean my bond, he... he has the plague."

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over Henry's head. He had to use all his self-control not to show his distress over those news. "Oh... I see", he finally stuttered and looked away.

"Howard too", Gregor added, "and Mareth's bat Andromeda."

Henry's head started spinning. Howard and Andromeda and... Ares. "Anyone else?" His voice was hoarse now, he knew he had to watch it to not give himself away.

Gregor looked down again. "My... my mother was bitten by a flea. She... I think she caught it too. That's why I'm here. I need to find the cure, for her and for Ares. Though Ares, well..."

Henry heard his voice break. "He what?" He couldn't stop the question spilling from his mouth.

Gregor visibly swallowed. "He was the first one who caught it, they said. He... he is very sick. Much more than Howard and Andromeda. He... I... I just want him to be alive, you know? When I get back."

Henry turned away. Ares had the plague, and it was bad. Worse than the others. He looked down on his hands, they were shaking a little. Why was he so distressed by this? Ares and he weren't bonds anymore, they had betrayed each other, and yet he suddenly realized he didn't want him to die like this. Of a plague – alone, and without –

He hadn't realized but when Henry looked around now, he saw that most of the questers had finished their meal and dispatched into smaller groups to prepare for their departure.

He and the fliers were the only ones remaining, and Aurora was now nudging Nike in the side, signaling they should get ready as well. Hamnet had said he intended to have them ride on Frill, and strapping them on would take a while.

When Hamnet finally came, Nike reluctantly turned from Thanatos and allowed the human to lie her onto Frill.

Thanatos watched, but when he noticed Henry was staring at his hands, he nudged him in the side – "Hey, what's the matter with you, you look like you just found out the world is ending."

Embarrassed, the exiled prince looked away. He didn't like the thought of talking to his new bond about how he was worried for the life of his old bond but eventually, after enough questions, spilled it.

"Listen, I know it's not really something I should care so much about, but... I..." Henry sighed, "you know, I always imagined, maybe... someday, we'd get to... you know, talk about this whole thing. That maybe I could tell him I don't blame him for what he did. And now he's dying of the plague, miles away, in Regalia, and I... I just..."

Thanatos interrupted him – "You don't need to justify your worry. It's only natural. You didn't hate him, after all. You two just... didn't work, that's all. Isn't it?"

Relieved, Henry nodded. He was eternally grateful for Thanatos' understanding, and the two sat there for a while longer, the flier's head pressed against his side for comfort, until Hamnet announced they were ready to leave. The two bats were secured on Frill, Boots was assigned her regular seat on Temp's back, and everyone else was to go on foot.

"To the Vineyard of Eyes, then", said Hamnet, and Frill led the way into the jungle.

There was a small path, probably worn by the mice traveling from their nests

to the spring, but it quickly became overgrown, and they were just wading their way through the jungle again. It was harder here. The vines grew more

thickly so that, in places, they had to separate them with their hands to get through.

Then the stems snapped closed behind them. At times, Gregor couldn't even see most of his fellow travelers. He stayed right on top of Temp and Boots, making sure they didn't get lost in the foliage.

Hamnet assigned each of them a number, one through thirteen, and made them sound off periodically. At one point during the sound off, Gregor realized Luxa had fallen back in line and was walking just ahead of them. He asked her about how Aurora was doing, and when she wanted to know more about Hazard, he willingly answered her questions.

When she realized he was her cousin, Gregor saw her face showed conflict. "I think he'll be a good one. Like Nerissa or Howard", he said, but all she did was look away. Gregor asked himself if he had said something wrong, but Luxa just continued talking, about how Nerissa was queen now, so he decided to leave it alone.

Later he asked her for her own story, as to what had happened to her and Aurora after they were separated. They got so distracted that the Death Rider, who walked last to make sure nobody was left behind, caught up to them. Thanatos was flying out of sight now, above the plants, where there was space.

"Hey, don't fall behind", he scolded, and Luxa nodded and quickened her pace. Gregor stayed behind, for a second he wondered if he had listened in on their conversation and how much he may have heard. But Luxa's story had reminded Gregor that he had wanted to talk to the outcast about something.

He decided he would start with the easy part. "Hey, so, you don't deny you are the Death Rider anymore?"

Gregor remembered him introducing himself with the name yesterday, and he also recalled how the outcast had denied the prophecy he had tried to give him at first, back on the waterway.

The Death Rider grinned. "No... the prophecy convinced me. It was... weird, to have everything that had happened over the last months suddenly in front of you in the form of a prophecy, but it was pretty obvious. And besides", he chuckled a little, "it's a nice-sounding name."

Gregor smiled. He understood why someone like the outcast would say that, but he personally hated even "warrior". "Death Rider" sounded about a hundred times worse.

Gregor pondered for a second, trying to find the words to say this next part. He finally inhaled, before continuing – "Hey, one more thing", he didn't face the outcast, to hide his slightly reddened face, "I... I wanted to thank you for saving Luxa and Aurora, back in the Tankard." After all, Boots had been on Aurora too. Hadn't he sliced at the serpent, she would have been doomed as well. That's what Gregor told himself anyway. Truth was, he was just as happy Luxa was alive.

The outcast seemed a little taken aback but finally shrugged. "Don't mention it."

But Gregor wanted to mention it. "No, you... you lost your eye for that. And you did it after we sent you away – after SHE sent you away. Not just anyone – actually, barely anyone would do that."

Gregor thought of what Luxa had said last night, about him reminding her of someone. Was he maybe another lost relative of her or something? Gregor considered asking, but then decided he wouldn't if the outcast didn't bring it up himself.

"Oh well, I also said I would help those that needed help. And Luxa sure did back then. It's... it's honestly fine." He continued.

"Well, I believe it made quite the impression on her", Gregor pondered, "after all, this time, she asked you for help. Maybe it had something to do with Howard not being here either." Gregor remembered him being even more suspicious of the Death Rider than Luxa.

Surprisingly, the outcast laughed. "Oh, most certainly. Wait, was that the tall boy who was always so grumpy? He has the plague, right?"

Gregor nodded, thankful the outcast had changed the subject on his own accord.

He was just about to ask why, besides the fact that Howard had mistrusted him, the outcast seemed to have not liked him much, when a voice up ahead suddenly interrupted him – "Here lies the Vineyard of Eyes", hissed Frill, and the Death Rider looked up.

"Hey, I'll be in the front, okay? Don't lose the group!" He told Gregor and ran past him until he was out of sight.

Gregor sped up as well to heed the warning and suddenly the dense foliage ended and they came out along the stone rim of a valley. What lay below them took Gregor's breath away.

The valley was covered with vines, too, but these were more slender and graceful with delicate blossoms of every shade. A light, sweet scent filled the air, which was the coolest they had encountered since they'd entered the Arch of Tantalus. The relentless chatter of the jungle was behind them now, because over the valley was a hush.

Was this the Vineyard? Gregor wondered why everyone dreaded it so. It was like a magnificent garden with those multicolored blossoms and that glorious smell and... then he remembered the plants that had taken Mange's life. Maybe here in the jungle, beauty was synonymous with danger.

There was a smooth, wide stone path leading into the valley. The vines grew in a high arch above it as if they'd been planted and pruned by an expert gardener.

"Who made the path?" asked Gregor.

"The Vineyard made the path itself. To invite weary travelers in", said the Death Rider, who now stood beside him again.

What? The Vineyard had made the path? Gregor eyed the outcast, who had caught up to Hamnet and Frill now, and took the lead. Thanatos was flying above their heads, clearly visible.

Was this just a large-scale version of the plant that ate Mange? But instead of just one plant, a whole variety had worked out this enticing trap together? Suddenly, all the beauty became sinister, and Gregor did not want to enter the Vineyard at all.

He made sure he had Boots in his sight and made it clear to her to stay on the path. The Death Rider, Frill and Hamnet led the party down the path with Hazard walking next to his father. Thanatos flew above them and presumably kept an eye out for danger. Aurora and Nike, still secured to Frill's back, were completely vulnerable. Luxa covered them on the right and Lapblood on the left. Gregor came next, holding Boots' hand while she rode on Temp. Ripred, in the rear, walked alone.

They made good time. The path continued to be smooth and straight, sloping gently downward. It was easy to travel but Gregor had the sense they were descending down the throat of some horrible beast and his unease grew. He remembered the Death Rider describing this place as "creepy", and all of a sudden he knew exactly what he had been talking about.

Eventually, they came to a large clearing, shaped in a geometrically perfect circle. Across the path from which they had arrived, three smaller paths branched out from a single point, equal angles between them. Like they had been measured and drawn with the aid of a protractor.

The perfect symmetry once more made him realize the Vineyard of Eyes had been carefully designed and executed by someone. Or something.

Hamnet positioned a lantern directly in the center of the circle and they all gathered tightly around it while they ate. When they were done, Hamnet exchanged a glance with the Death Rider and rose. "I am going to take Frill and scout the paths", he said. "I know now what we are looking for, and what to be careful of."

They must have talked about this at some point, Gregor thought.

"Fine. The rest of us can take turns sleeping", said Ripred.

"Death and I will keep watch. You can go to sleep", the outcast said, putting away the last cooking utensils.

"Good. Because I am tired as hell and I already thought first watch would fall on me, as always." Ripred yawned audibly.

Luxa exchanged glances with Aurora and Gregor asked himself if she trusted the outcast enough to let him watch over their sleep. But he could also see she was very tired.

After a little toing and froing Hamnet agreed to take Hazard too, as the boy was determined to come with them. They took the path that branched off to the left and soon they were out of sight.

"Will they be all right?" Gregor asked Ripred.

"Don't worry about Hamnet. He can look after himself" said the rat, and Gregor had no trouble believing him.

"Survived ten years out here without any help from the rest of us."

"Why did he leave Regalia, Ripred?" said Luxa in a hushed voice. Gregor noticed the outcast raise his head. Did he not know either? Gregor was surprised, he and Hamnet had seemed to know each other, he had assumed they had shared the story. Well, maybe not.

"They never told you? Not your mother? Or Vikus?" said Ripred.

"No. Henry heard Hamnet had gone mad. But he could never find out the whole story, and Henry could find out almost anything", said Luxa.

To Gregor's surprise, Ripred gave a short laugh and a smirk appeared on the Death Rider's face, he saw Thanatos nudging him for it. Gregor frowned and wanted to ask what was so funny, but he dared not disrupt the silence.

There was no sound except their breathing while Ripred considered this. "You may as well know", he said finally, "You all may." He glanced at the outcast for a second. "I expect Vikus is only waiting for you to be old enough to tell. But he would keep you young as long as possible. And then, it's hard for him to talk about Hamnet without weeping."

"Then you tell me", said Luxa. "And Vikus and I will both be in your debt."

"You in my debt, Your Highness? Well, that's an opportunity I can scarcely let pass", said Ripred.

He slouched over on his side and stared into the lantern's flame. "Now where to begin...? You see, the thing is... the thing you have to understand is that the humans and the rats were not always so consumed with hatred for each other. Or at least, the hatred has ebbed and flowed, so that there have been periods when one could hope for genuine peace. These times coincided with both the rats and the humans having leaders that were willing to place a higher priority on harmony than gain. Several hundred years ago, they say, was such a time."

Everyone was listening with eager ears now. The three bats and the Death Rider on one side of the lamp, Gregor, Boots, Temp and Luxa on the other. Between them Lapblood and Ripred.

He continued describing the humans had, as a token of goodwill, given the rats a garden as a gift. It was named "Garden of the Hesperides" by the bats, with apple trees that grew golden apples. There was a small plain that flooded each year when the river was high. The humans had built a dike so that the plain would no longer flood, and the garden flourished.

"When I was a pup, I remember, it was a great treat to go to the garden", said Ripred, "to eat the apples, to sleep in the caves surrounding it, which smelled as sweet as the fruit."

"Yes", whispered Lapblood sadly. "Everyone loved the garden."

"I have never even heard of the Garden of the Hesperides", said Luxa suspiciously.

"I have", the Death Rider sounded. "It was... wait, that had something to do with Hamnet? How?"

"Listen and you'll find out", Ripred shushed him. "Ten or so years ago was not one of those fortunate times. While your father was a decent enough king in some respects, Your Highness, he was too rigid in others. And, of course, King Gorger was a bloodthirsty monster from the get-go."

Suddenly, Gregor didn't like the direction the story was going in anymore. He started having a bad feeling about all this.

"Well, the humans decided they wanted the garden back. Solovet sent an army under Hamnet's command to run out the rats. Hamnet, at the time, was hands down the best warrior among the humans. Everyone assumed he would take control of the army after his mother since he seemed just like her. But as it turned out, he was as much like Vikus as he was like Solovet. And so he was doomed."

"Hamnet was supposed to take over the army?" Luxa's voice sounded unbelieving. "But Henry told me it would be him!"

Ripred glanced at her. "Well, perhaps it was. After Hamnet left."

Luxa stared down at her hands. Gregor was thinking about how Howard had scolded her for not questioning the things Henry had said over the time during the last journey.

"Anyway", Ripred sounded mildly annoyed for being interrupted so much. "Under Hamnet, the humans and their fliers launched a surprise attack. The rats, most of whom were playing in the garden with their pups, were thrown into chaos. But they quickly regrouped, herded the pups into the surrounding caves, and turned to do battle."

Gregor's unease rose even more.

"They fought so viciously that the tide began to turn in their favor. But Hamnet had a backup plan provided by his mother."

Gregor now had an impulse to tell Ripred to stop. He was not sure he wanted to hear the rest of the story. But Luxa did. And it was about her uncle.

"If the rats should prove too strong, he was to open the sluice gates and flood the field. Then the rats would have to swim, and the humans on fliers would have a great advantage. So, Hamnet opened the gates."

Everyone was dead-silent now, Luxa was looking at Ripred and her face was still as stone.

"The river was high, the dike was centuries old. As the water burst through the sluice gates, the surrounding mortar and stone crumbled and the whole dike gave way — not merely flooding the plain, but reclaiming it under twenty feet of water. Hundreds of rats were drowned in the deluge, and many humans and fliers were caught as well. But the carnage didn't end there. Having filled the plain, the water rushed into the cave entrances, drowning the pups that had been hidden there for safety. You could hear their shrieks for miles around."

Ripred's voice was loaded with the suffering he described. Never before had Gregor heard him like this.

"Miles around", Lapblood softly echoed. "Miles around."

"What did Hamnet do?" Luxa asked, her voice sounded misted.

To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Ripred who answered – it was Thanatos. "He began a desperate effort to rescue the drowning, human, rat, bat, whatever, but it was useless."

"Oh yes, I completely forgot you were there", Ripred eyed the flier. "And if I remember correctly, you too lost something that day."

The Death Rider turned around to Thanatos with visible surprise. Had he not told him? Gregor wondered why not, when Ripred continued – "Hamnet's own flier, his bond, was dragged into the water by two rats trying to save themselves, and she never resurfaced."

Gregor saw Thanatos turn his face away from the light at Ripred's words and draw back a little, behind the Death Rider. Gregor asked himself if he had known her.

"Hamnet was pulled out by Mareth, who had to knock him senseless in order to keep him from diving back into what was by this time a lake of corpses", said Ripred. "When Hamnet regained consciousness in Regalia, he was, for all practical purposes, mad. For days, he recognized no one and spoke in strange, garbled sentences. Then his reason returned and he stopped speaking entirely. A few nights later he fled Regalia. A year after his disappearance he was pronounced dead and all efforts to locate him ceased", concluded Ripred. "And that is the story of your uncle Hamnet."

"What happened to the garden?", asked Aurora.

"It lies underwater. And those golden apple trees won't grow anywhere else in the Underland", Ripred answered. "So they were lost as well."

For a while, all Gregor could hear was the occasional crackle of the lantern and Boots' soft snoring as she slept on his chest.

Then a strained voice came from the path on the left. "Telling tales out of school again, Ripred?"

Gregor didn't know how long Hamnet had been sitting there on Frill, holding his sleeping son. Long enough, though.

"You know my theory on that, Hamnet. The more tales told, the less chance of repeating them", Ripred gave him a knowing look. "Maybe it will help your niece, and some of the other people here, out one day."

Gregor pondered whether Ripred had meant the Death Rider with that. Luxa and Hamnet exchanged a look. "Maybe", said Hamnet. "Depending on whose ears she inherited."

"Any luck out there?", asked Ripred finally.

"I think so", said Hamnet. He held up a handful of plants. The roots still dangled from the stems. Above his clenched fist was a cluster of star-shaped leaves.


	5. Starshade

Henry was sitting, leaned against Thanatos' back, staring out into the jungle. Yesterday, Hamnet had returned from the depths of the Vineyard with a sample of Starshade, the plant they were after, and sent everyone else to sleep. Around halfway through the eight hours he had promised them, Henry and Thanatos had taken over watch from Frill, and so far, everything was quiet. But the exiled prince knew better than to trust it.

The only sounds around them were the breaths of the sleeping party members, Hamnet had extinguished the lantern when they went to sleep, so the only light they had was the one the jungle itself emitted.

All Henry could think about was Ripred's story from yesterday. It had shaken him to the core, like he was almost certain it had all listeners.

He vividly remembered bits and pieces of images from back then, faces of people, the many wounded and dead they had carried through the palace. Hamnet had been among them, and Henry remembered sitting at his bedsite with two-year-old Luxa in his arms, waiting for him to wake up.

Later, when Hamnet had disappeared, nobody had wanted to talk to Henry about it. They all pretended he would be found soon, and that there was no reason to worry. And then, around a year later, they stopped talking altogether. Like he didn't matter anymore, like the whole incident wasn't even worth mentioning.

Later, when Henry had grown older and had tried to find out what exactly had happened, together with Luxa, that drove Hamnet to leave, he had hit the same wall of silence as before. It was like people wished to deny the existence of the whole day. Ripred's words from earlier came to mind – _The more tales told, the less chance of repeating them_. If only everyone thought like that.

Henry suddenly threw a glance at Thanatos and remembered he had revealed having been there yesterday. A hundred questions came to mind, like, why he had never mentioned it or what exactly he had lost, as Ripred claimed. Henry opened his mouth to voice them, but Thanatos spoke first.

"You know what's coming up, right?" the flier's voice was quiet, yet Henry heard him perfectly well. He nodded.

"I've consulted with Ripred and Hamnet, after he returned yesterday, and by the looks of it, we'll need a plan."

Henry thought about asking his questions for a second, but then decided he should use this time for more pressing matters. He would talk to Thanatos later.

Henry fetched his sketchbook and in the dim light, he wrote down the names of all questers. More than an hour he spent, together with Thanatos, coming up with a lineup as efficient and safe as possible for a group so large to cross this most dangerous part of the Vineyard.

Then he fooled around sketching it out, making everyone look as comical and funny as possible until he was silently wheezing about his own drawings. After a while, Henry decided to stop, because his laughing started getting out of control and he wanted to avoid waking people up.

"So, actually, what's the deal with you and Nike, hm? She is basically worshipping the air through which you fly." Henry chuckled, nudging Thanatos in the side. He had been meaning to ask for a while but never had had the opportunity.

Thanatos rolled his eyes. "Apparently, to her, and most other fliers, I am some sort of celebrity. Like, they thought I was dead for eight years, but now I'm not, so I'm a living legend or something."

Henry gave it some thought and then nodded. It was understandable, like, if Hamnet, for example, was ever to return to Regalia, he was sure they would treat him like a living legend too.

"And Aurora is less impressed? Or Pandora, Andromeda, and Ares last time?" The mention of Ares stung a little, but Henry quickly dismissed it.

Thanatos rolled his eyes. "Look, I have no idea what her deal is, okay? I mean, Aurora and all the fliers last time, especially Andromeda, were glad or honored to meet me as well. It's not my fault Nike's the only one who's making such a scene out of it."

"Well, congrats then, you living legend." Henry nudged him again and the flier grunted. "Stop it, you hear? I don't want to be a legend. I do not even want to be remembered, got it?"

Henry could have sworn he heard him mumble "I don't deserve to be remembered", and was about to ask why he would say that when he saw someone lighting the lantern on the other side of the camp. It was Hamnet, and Henry rose to help him wake the party up.

After everyone was awake, they ate some leftover fish and a few plums. But when they started to get in their previous formation, Hamnet stopped them. "From this moment I hand over leadership to the Death Rider, he will tell you what I discovered last night and what you are to do."

Henry nodded at him and stepped forward, all eyes were on him now. "I did not tell any of you except Ripred and Hamnet last night because I did not want to disturb your slumber, but this final part of the journey is the most dangerous. The field with the Starshade that Hamnet reached, is nearby, but to get there, we must traverse the most dangerous part of the Vineyard. As a group this large, it won't be easy, but we must make an attempt to move with all possible speed."

Henry exchanged glances with Hamnet and fetched his sketchbook. "I spent some time during my watch last night coming up with a formation that should give us the highest rate of survival. Thanatos and I will now show you, but you must do exactly as we say."

Henry glanced over his notes, trying very hard to keep a straight face at his own doodles and cursed he had drawn them on the same page. Finally, he stored the book away and started instructing the questers.

Henry left Frill at the front of the line with Nike and Aurora on her back. Thanatos was to fly above her, carrying Hazard and Hamnet. He instructed Temp to crawl beneath Frill's back legs. Flanking the lizard to the right was Ripred, with Boots and Gregor riding on his back. Luxa was to travel on Lapblood on the left. Henry himself would run at the back.

"Why do YOU get to run and I have to ride? I can travel fast enough on my own two legs", Luxa protested. She clearly didn't want to ride Lapblood, or most likely any rat.

"Last time I checked Hamnet and I were the only people who have crossed the Vineyard on foot before, and I need him at the front, on Thanatos, to lead the group." He urged her.

Luxa rolled her eyes and Henry put his hands to his hips. "Look, just trust me when I say you will be grateful for Lapblood's speed later."

His cousin stared at him for a second, defiantly and challenging, like she had so many times before. Finally, she reluctantly settled herself on Lapblood and reached up to stroke Aurora's fur.

Gregor followed Henry's instructions without complaining. He placed Boots up by Ripred's shoulder blades and sat behind her. Hamnet fetched Hazard and the two climbed on Thanatos' back, who cowered on the floor before Frill, waiting for Henry's signal to lift off.

Everyone was in place now, and the exiled prince raised his voice again. "Alright, the formation's a go. Now for the rest." He went and stood next to Thanatos, facing the questers directly. "All of you who have something – anything, really – to cover your mouths and noses with, do it now."

A surprised murmur went through the group. "Trust me and do it, especially those of you who run."

Henry searched his own bag and found a couple cloths big enough for the rats and Thanatos, the last one he had he took for himself. Hamnet had covers for him and Hazard, but the two other bats, Frill, Temp, Luxa, Boots, and Gregor were left without anything.

"Use your shirt, your dirty napkins for all I care. Try to breathe as little as possible during this next part, you hear?" He exchanged glances with Hamnet. "It won't be possible to hold your breath all the way, I mean me and Thanatos once made it through in just over a minute, but I don't expect to break any speed records today. We are many and most of you have never traversed here before, so my estimate is around three minutes."

He saw Luxa and Gregor exchange looks. The Overlander ended up taking his and Boots' shirts off and wrapping them around the lower half of their faces. Luxa ripped off the seam from hers and did the same.

For a quick second, Henry saw himself, doing the same thing, all those months ago, to bandage Thanatos' injuries in the land of the rats. He shook the thought quickly.

"Alright, I believe the fliers and Frill will be fine – will you?"

The lizard gave an approving hiss, and Aurora and Nike were tied on anyway.

"Okay, this is all nice and well, and I know most of you are scared right now, but hear me – nothing will happen to you, as long as you hold on. Whatever it is you do, do not let go of whoever you are riding, keep your heads up and don't look back."

"And under no circumstances fight the plants." Henry heard Hamnet's voice from Thanatos' back. He turned to Luxa's uncle – "Should we collect their swords?"

Luxa's hand immediately gripped the handle of hers and Hamnet pondered. "Take hers, Gregor has his hands full with his sister. I trust he doesn't make any stupid decisions, like drawing a blade."

Luxa gritted her teeth when she handed over her sword to Henry, who stored it in one of Thanatos' bags. "Why can we not fight them?", she finally asked, still furrowing her brows.

"It would only do more harm. The only thing I can see somehow working is fire, but it is way too dangerous." Hamnet answered.

Henry gripped the handle of his own sword. Fire – he'd keep that in mind. "Hey, I can trust you won't draw your own blade either?" Hamnet was now eyeing him.

"Not unless I have to, and if I do, I will keep to what you said about the fire." Henry tugged at the bag with his ignifer-pellets.

"Oh, I almost forgot, his sword lights on fire, you said, didn't you, Gregor?", Ripred raised his voice, though suppressed by the cloth over his face, and the Overlander shifted uncomfortably. "It did during the battle with the serpents, I saw it, and so did Luxa."

Hamnet's eyes grew wide and round. "Excuse me, what?"

Henry grinned. "I'll show you later if I ever have the need to light it. I don't really want to waste any of the ignifer."

"Alright, can we get going now?" Lapblood shifted her weight from one leg to the other, her voice muffled from the cloth as well. "All this waiting is making me more nervous than I already am."

Henry pulled the cloth over his own mouth and nose and nodded. "We will only travel a short while before I give the command to run. At that point, do not stop until you have reached the field of Starshade." Henry said. "Let us go."

This path was narrower although similar-looking to the one that had brought them this far. But as they turned a corner, Henry immediately recognized the unreal beauty of the part that he had prepared the group for. He saw Thanatos sore above his head into the corridor and immediately yelled "RUN!"

Overall, the group was doing decently the first minute or so. Henry could usually hold his breath for more than that by now, not while running though. He felt the sweet scent enter his body and tried to block his thoughts, he had discovered thinking about tragedy and reliving painful memories, as well as hurting himself helped.

Henry could already see the exit to the plane, his head was slightly spinning now and he was painfully pinching his arm to counteract the gas. He saw Thanatos fly out of the tunnel first and immediately landing, ordering Hamnet and Hazard, who were both dazed and the boy was babbling and laughing, to inhale the Starshade's scent.

Frill followed, like Lapblood with a giggling Luxa on her back. But Gregor on Ripred appeared to be lost. He was laughing vigorously now, and Henry saw him let go of the rat's ears, Boots still tightly in his arms though. He fell backward and the exiled prince managed to grab him before the vines, that had already extended towards him. He yelled at Ripred to keep going and dragged Gregor along with all his strength.

When they reached the field he threw Gregor right in, ordering him to inhale the scent of the plants. Only then he noticed Boots wasn't in his arms anymore.

"They are still in here!" Ripred yelled and Henry saw him run back into the Vineyard, towards what the exiled prince recognized was Temp, cowering over Boots, trying to shield her from the vines that were extending towards her now.

Without thinking, and disregarding Thanatos' concerned calls, Henry stormed after the rat, leaping over the closing vines. When he reached Ripred, the scarred gnawer had already grabbed hold of Boots and Temp and turned back to him. "The exit is sealed!"

Henry spun around and realized he was right. A split second he hesitated, what should they do? It was clear they would have to fight their way out, but how?

Then Henry remembered it – Ripred fighting. What did he always do? Within moments a picture formed in Henry's head, and he yelled the first things that came to mind if he would be asked to describe it – "Ground coiler – flaming sword – you spin me – three seconds!"

In one fluent motion, he drew his sword, broke an ignifer pellet and grated the fire stones together over it. He just counted on Ripred understanding what he meant, and three seconds later he extended his hand to the rat.

Ripred threw him a somewhat unreadable but not unpleased look before grasping it. Henry jumped and landed his feet on the gnawer's hips, his left hand still firmly holding Ripred's claw. Then the rat started spinning.

Henry had no time to aim or even see what he was hitting. The world around him became one fiery blur as Ripred spun him around, faster than he had ever spun before. They became a flaming tornado that tore through the curtain of hissing and retreating vines. Hamnet had been right, they didn't like the fire, Henry thought. Then it was over.

Ripred stopped abruptly, and Henry felt his head spinning a few more rounds before the world finally became stationary again.

Everyone else was lying on the plane now, Henry saw Hamnet holding back Gregor, who had apparently tried to rush back in after Boots. They were all gawking at him and Ripred unbelievingly.

"Me spin!" A tiny voice suddenly sounded, and Henry felt Boots' small hand on his cheek. "You spin me!"

When she broke the silence Gregor wiggled out of Hamnet's grasp and ran for Ripred, who handed his sister over to the Overlander. Temp, who had not nearly enjoyed the adventure as much as Boots, crawled out of Ripred's grip himself, visibly shaking.

Henry slowly lowered his still burning sword and jumped down from where the soles of his boots had dug into Ripred's side. He finally let go off the rat's claw and the two exchanged a look. "Ground coiler... heh, you are full of surprises, aren't you, lad?"

Something about Ripred's gaze was so intense Henry almost averted his eyes, but he didn't care to show weakness. Instead, he grinned, while fetching the extinguisher. "I know. Isn't that what it is?"

Ripred only chuckled. Henry put his free hand to his hip. "So, we kicked ass in there, together. Does this mean we are outcast-buddies now?"

Ripred broke into hoarse laughter. "Oh – oh boy, listen, it takes much more than ONE good idea and ONE time kicking ass together to become MY outcast-buddy. Got it?"

Henry's grin widened – "So it's not out of the picture, we just have to do this more?"

Ripred shook his head, still giggling "Eh, I should have formulated that differently. You have a long way to go, lad, before we can talk about stuff like that. For now, I'll be keeping an eye on you, kay?"

With that, Ripred joined the others and started inhaling the Starshade as well. Henry kept his eyes on him while kneeling down and doing the same. Suddenly, he felt someone pressing against his back. "Don't you dare ever doing something like that again, you hear? Not without me at least."

He turned around and wrapped his arms around Thanatos' neck, burying his face in his fur. "Hey, what was I supposed to do, let the Vineyard get them? Come on, how low can you sink to let a bunch of salad toppings eat you?" They both chuckled and approached the rest of the group together.

Hamnet instructed them to eat some of the Starshade, to make sure none of them would fall ill of the plague. There goes my reward, Henry thought, while chewing on the plants. No vaccine from Regalia required then.

After they had all eaten a fair amount, Hamnet instructed the group to start plucking the plants. Gregor pulled a roll of something Henry didn't recognize at first, out of his bag, but when he showed them you could tape the plants together with it, he was all in for it.

Henry pulled out Mys and Gregor handed him the roll of what was apparently called "duct tape" to cut, as he was the only one with a short blade at hand. Initially, the others all gathered the starshade from the field, but it soon became apparent that the humans would be most useful taping bundles of the leaves together. None of the other creatures had the hands to do it.

Boots and Hazard really weren't much help, so they went back to picking plants. Aurora and Nike, who, with their injuries, were also fairly limited in what they could do, stayed in the field on the side and watched Boots, while Thanatos volunteered to fly rounds and keep watch.

Henry ended up sitting in the middle between Luxa and Gregor, handing them stripes of tape, while they bundled the plants and gave them to Hamnet who stacked them to a haystack of sorts.

At first, they worked silently, but after a while, Gregor raised his voice. "Hey, that... that was really amazing of you, you know? How you went back in there to save Boots and Temp." He awkwardly scratched his nose, "Ripred said you caught and dragged me out as well."

Henry shrugged. "I always wanted an excuse to try my flaming sword in the Vineyard, honestly."

Luxa had overheard him, and asked "Hey, how exactly does that work actually? Because I want one as–" Before she could finish her sentence, Boots came running towards them, she had escaped Nike and Aurora.

"You make me spin!" She latched onto Henry's arm and grinned at him. "You make fire! Me ride rat and you make fire!"

Henry chuckled awkwardly and Gregor tried to get Boots off his arm, but she was more determined than him. "Well, looks like you have a fan now." Gregor chuckled awkwardly.

Henry grinned back. "Sure, as long as she lets me do my work." With one swift motion, he let go of Mys and grabbed Boots with both arms. He stood up, lifted her above his head and held her as high as he could. "You like the spinning? You want more?"

She screamed in joy and Henry started spinning her around as fast as he could, careful not to run the stack of Starshade over. Boots was over the moon. She squealed and laughed and Henry spun and spun until he was entirely dizzy.

Gregor had watched, not without concern, and took his sister from him as soon as he stopped. "Okay, that's enough now, Boots, look, I have something for you." He pulled out a pocket mirror and gave it to her, it occupied her attention for the moment.

"I believe this is not to be left out of sight", Henry turned around when he heard Hamnet's voice. Earlier, he had seen him talk to Luxa, but now he held in his hand Mys and extended it to him.

Henry quickly grabbed the dagger and thanked him. "It usually is, but then the baby –"

Hamnet laughed, "I saw it. It is an incredible piece of work, if I may say so myself."

"Oh, you are very right, Hamnet", Henry suddenly heard Ripred's voice behind him. "Is that what I think it is?" The rat leaned over to sniff at the dagger and then raised his head in surprise. "It is – the tooth of a gnawer, and what a tooth."

It was a nice change seeing Ripred so excited about something, and Henry grinned proudly. "Not just any gnawer too – this is the tooth of no other than king Gorger himself."

Now he truly had baffled the two, both of them stared at him in disbelief. "Say what now?" Hamnet's voice sounded shocked and Ripred chuckled. "The tooth of Gorger and a sword that lights on fire. You just keep the surprises coming, don't you?"

"Not planning to stop anytime soon, too." The exiled prince twirled his dagger around.

"And what does it say here?" Hamnet inspected the inscription and read "Mys – wait, that means rat, doesn't it?"

"It's the tooth of one, so I thought it was a fitting name." Henry held it higher so that Ripred could see too.

"But you should really get back to work", Hamnet suddenly reminded him, and Henry sighed. "I know. I just wish, with all these nice weapons I could fight, too."

"Can't you?" Ripred sounded surprised, while Hamnet turned away and excused himself. Henry saw him go back to Frill and fetch his own knife to cut the tape. The exiled prince and Ripred remained. Henry sighed. "It's the eye. I... I have lost all sense of depth perception since it's gone. I'll never fight properly again."

He had no idea why he shared this with the gnawer, or maybe he did. Maybe, deep down, he thought the versed rat could help him in some way. If there was anyone out there who knew his way around fighting, it was Ripred.

"Oh, there are other ways to see, besides your eyes." The rat grinned. "You just have to know how to use them."

Henry groaned frustratedly. "I know, echolocation, but that doesn't help me see distances, does it now?"

Ripred widened his eyes. "You can use echolocation? Really?" He chuckled, "Well, maybe you can talk to the great warrior over there then, I have been trying to teach him for a while now, but he persistently fails."

Henry chuckled, "It's not like it was easy. Death dragged me out of bed an hour early every day for an entire month until I made progress."

It was weird talking to Ripred like this, almost like nothing had ever happened between them. Like Henry had never tried to kill him in his sleep or Ripred had not left a scar on his arm. But he must not recognize me, Henry thought. Or else, why would he not shout my identity to everyone?

"Oh, I do believe you. But about what you said earlier – you're wrong. Echolocation is so much more than what I assume you use, and what I'm trying to teach to Gregor."

Henry raised his head – "Yeah?"

Ripred lied down, casually stretching and reaching for a few flowers. "Hmm... I may know someone who could help you. Theoretically. If – you have the dedication and stamina to stand her, and IF... you can GET her to help you. Because that will be the hardest part."

Henry listened up – "What? Who?"

Ripred yawned. "Oh, actually, nevermind. Forgot you were a human. There is no chance she will help one, not after what they did to her."

"No, tell me!" Henry tried not to sound desperate but failed. "If there is any chance, as small as it is, to ever fight like before again, I will do anything!"

"Like before, he says!" Ripred giggled, "Lad, if you get her to teach you, you will not fight like before. You will fight like no human has ever fought. If, you know, you succeed."

"Just watch me." Henry put his hands to his hips. "You know what – I have a bet for you. You tell me who she is, I go find her, get her to teach me and learn. I will learn to fight like no human has ever fought, and then I challenge you to a re-, I mean, duel. And if I manage to impress you, THEN we will be outcast-buddies."

Ripred stared at him for a second, utterly baffled. Then he broke into laughter. "Oh-oh-oh... someone's setting high goals for himself. Well, if that's what you want, sure! I take that bet."

He sat up again, scratching his back. "Alright, then, if you truly wish to try your luck, you'll need to travel to the Firelands. Ask the crawlers you will find there – as you're apparently so close with them now – for Kismet. They will know where she lives."

"Kismet", Henry repeated. "How do you...", but before he could finish the sentence, Ripred interrupted him. "And that's enough lazy sitting around on our hides, we have a cure to gather." With that, he disappeared to help Lapblood and Frill on the field.

Henry started strolling towards the stack with Starshades, which had grown taller than he now, shaking his head. Ripred was so unpredictable, and yet, this time – he had given him hope.

"Kismet", he mumbled, fiddling around with Mys. Kismet. The name had burned itself into his mind, and he was so lost in thought he only heard the voices when he had reached the stack.

"No, I'm glad he told them."

Henry recognized the voice of Thanatos behind the Starshade-stack and realized he must have switched watch-duty with Aurora, who was nowhere to be seen. He was about to raise his voice and say hello when he heard Hamnet answer – "I should not have let him bring up you or Persephone. It was not right to call you out like this."

Henry froze. Unable to move, he just stood there, listening. He knew it was impolite to eavesdrop, but somehow his limbs stopped working, his only option was to stand still and listen.

He heard Thanatos sigh. "I... I know I shouldn't blame myself for what happened, but..."

"You are right, it was not your fault. It was mine. You saved your bond, I failed to save mine. It haunts me every night still." Hamnet's voice was as quiet as the flier's.

"Do not blame yourself... you know she would not have wanted that. Remember what she always said?"

Hamnet chuckled. "Fate will get its way...", "... even if it ends up hurting you." Thanatos finished.

There was a long pause before Hamnet finally spoke again. "You know, she told me not to do it. Open the gates, that is. She told me not to do it, and I did not listen to her." His voice was drenched in sadness.

"You had your reasons. But I can believe that she did. She was the kindest soul in this world, and I was eternally grateful for her existence every day. The only thing I asked myself over and over was, what an angel like her, wanted with a troublemaker like me."

Hamnet chuckled. "Don't we all ask ourselves that?"

They were silent for a moment again. "You never told me why you ended up leaving", Hamnet spoke up again eventually. "I always assumed Arya would hold you in Regalia. But now you have a new bond – did something happen to her?"

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "She was the only thing that held me in Regalia."

Hamnet seemed to take that as a yes. "I would have never thought to see a familiar soul ever again, you know, after I left. And then, some three years later, you stand before me, with a bleeding mark on your face, claiming you wish to never see Regalia or the humans again." Hamnet paused, "I offered you to join me back then."

"You did", Thanatos sounded, "and I told you I had enough of humans, even of you."

"You left to die." It was not a question, that Hamnet voiced.

"So did you", was all Thanatos replied, and both knew it was the truth.

"And yet here we are, both with humans again. Humans we care about." Hamnet continued. After a short silence, he suddenly asked – "Though, if you denied joining with me, what was so different about Henry?"

Thanatos didn't answer immediately. "Listen, I... He... You, you could take care of yourself. I always knew that. But when I saw him – fall and later beg me to give him a merciful death – I knew if I left, he would die. I don't think I could stand even one more avoidable death on my conscience. I could not even watch and let him fall. Not even a complete stranger. Not after... after I had been forced to do the same with Arya."

Hamnet was quiet for a moment – "You... oh. I am truly sorry. That is a gruesome way to see your bond die."

They grew silent again for a while before Hamnet continued – "And then you grew to care about him?"

Thanatos' voice sounded annoyed. "I... no, you misunderstand that. He is... useful to keep around. We protect each other. I'll admit, it's nice having someone you can rely on. But listen, I'm through with getting attached. I admit I was dangerously close, but I'm pretty sure I have it under control now. It has only hurt me in the past, and it will do me no good now." He paused for a second, "If he died, I would not weep. Only belittle myself, most likely."

Hamnet sounded surprised. "But you bonded with him, did you not?"

Thanatos scoffed. "To keep him alive, yes. He literally asked me to leave him behind, after he had lost his eye. I had no choice."

"You did not want his death on your conscience?"

"Like you, when you refuse to fight", was all Thanatos responded.

"And this is not just your fear of losing him speaking or your own doubts as to whether you deserve him? Because we all know not only partners make us think that, friends do too."

Henry barely heard Hamnet's response. His head was spinning worse than when he had come out of the Vineyard. He knew he wasn't supposed to have heard that conversation, but his mind reeled with questions and swamped with fears.

What had Thanatos meant by "he would not weep if Henry died?" And why was he talking to Hamnet about these things?

Henry heard names – Persephone, Arya... why had he never heard them from the flier's mouth, and why was he talking to Hamnet about them willingly? Why was he answering his questions as to why he had left and why he kept Henry around, while he had refused to tell Henry himself? How much exactly did he even know of his – bond?

The exiled prince was still unable to move, frozen in place when he suddenly heard Ripred snarl – "No! How did they even get in here?"

Still dazed from his swirling thoughts, Henry turned around, and then he saw them. A red wave seeped into the field. They were so close together that they appeared to be one entity, a thick bloody liquid oozing toward him. Henry had seen this image once before and with shock he realized – it was the cutters.


	6. The Impossible

Within seconds Ripred took charge of the situation. He sent Boots and Hazard away with Aurora and called to arms.

Henry was still frozen in place when Ripred got to him. He shook his shoulder – "Hey... HEY! Now is not the time for daydreaming – you claim to have defeated the cutters with an army of crawlers before, let's hope you can do the same with two ragers, a pacifist, a lizard, two fliers and a future queen. Can your sword still do the burning trick?"

Immediately Henry awoke from his stasis. He looked at Ripred. "Of course."

"Good, we have two fliers with riders then. Get your new bond and defend us from the air. You can do that, even without that eye, right? Her Majesty will do the same on Nike."

Henry nodded and saw Gregor wave over Luxa to duct-tape one of his light sticks to her arm, as he did to his own. The Overlander threw him a glance – "You... you'll be fine, right? I only have two flashlights. Your sword lights on fire though, doesn't it?"

Henry nodded "I'm fine on light."

"Five-point arc!" shouted Ripred. "I'll take the tip. I want the Overlander and Lapblood on my right, Hamnet and Frill to my left."

After both Hamnet and Frill had finally assumed fighting positions, as well as Gregor and Lapblood, Temp, who had stayed as well, sat on the haystack of Starshade, looking as determined as the rest of them.

Henry exchanged a glance with Luxa, who was already on Nike's back. He threw her a reassuring smile – "Let's do this." She gave a little smile back and nodded.

Then he felt someone nudge him in the side. "Hey, we'll kick their hides, right? Like last time."

Henry jumped when he heard Thanatos. For a second his mind lingered on the conversation between him and Hamnet and he hesitated, before finally mounting up. If he died, I would not weep.

Annoyed, Henry shook his head. Now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts. He drew his sword instead and ignited it.

He could hear Ripred's voice now – "Hold your positions as long as you can before you fall back. When we reach the stack, circle around. Don't save each other, save the plants! Remember, it's the Starshade we need. Defend it at all costs!"

Then, Thanatos and Nike were in the air. They circled over the five-point-arc and the stack with the flowers. It's now or never, Henry realized. And then he fought.

No, this could not be happening. Henry saw the scene unfold before his eyes, the cutters overrunning the fighters on the ground, hacking away at the Starshade.

Henry and Luxa fought valiantly, Thanatos and he even did their "upside-down"-trick a couple times, as they had at the citadel, but it was no use. The last Henry saw of the cutters was them marching into the Vineyard, and giving a vivid example as to what would have happened to their group as well, had they not done exactly as they did.

When Thanatos and Nike landed, everyone had assembled around what had been the Starshade-stack.

"It's gone", Gregor wept. "The Starshade is gone. The cure is gone."

"All gone", said Ripred quietly. "It's all gone now."

Henry's head was spinning. What did that mean? What... what would happen now? He threw a glance at what had remained of the group. They were all bruised and disheveled, with cuts all over their legs and arms. Henry glanced down at his own legs, the fur was torn at many parts, but it had shielded his legs as he had hoped. His arms, on the other hand, were bleeding heavily, he could almost not hold his sword from how slippery the blood had made his hands.

When he suddenly realized Frill and Hamnet weren't among the huddled together group, he slowly looked around. Surrounded by dead ants, Frill's body lay sprawled across the field, the skin scored with hundreds of cuts. And there, Temp was hovering over something at the edge of the jungle. Henry's eyes widened when he realized the form on the ground was Hamnet.

"Uncle!" Luxa cried, and then she was sprinting across the field to him. Henry was frozen in place. He could not move. There were so many things clogging his head that he had wanted to tell and ask Hamnet. He had presumed him dead for so long and only now that he found out he was not, he would truly die.

His feet gave way and he collapsed where he stood, pressing his lower arm against his eye to hold the tears. He couldn't cry, not now, not before everyone who would ask why he wept for someone he had barely known.

"I will cry later", he whispered, voice muffled with uncried tears as if Hamnet on the other side of the plane could hear him. "I will cry later, I will. And I will not forget you."

It was all he could do at the moment, staring at the group assembling around Hamnet now. He saw Luxa's body shaking as she cried – there had never been a time after he had died in her eyes when he had wanted to embrace her more than now. But of course, he couldn't.

He felt Thanatos' pressing against his back and noticed he was trembling. "He would not have wanted us to cry", the flier whispered, and Henry realized Hamnet's death had shaken his flier as much as it had him. For a second he forgot what he had heard him say and wrapped his arms around his neck, this time to conceal his tears.

Like in a trance, Henry watched Luxa, Temp and Gregor climb onto Nike's back, around an hour – and many realizations – later. It was not the Starshade, he thought, his mind reeling. How is this possible...?

He knew very well it was possible – after all, Ripred had told them earlier it had been the humans who flooded the Garden of the Hesperides, with the pups and the innocents in it.

He really shouldn't be surprised. A plaque as a weapon – he shook his head. That sure sounded like one of Solovet's ideas. And an ingenious one too. Except now it was loose, and everything depended on Luxa convincing the council back in Regalia to provide the antidote like they had the sickness. To the rats – and to him.

She had assured him their agreement stood – if they had the antidote in Regalia, they would give it to the gnawers and to the Death Rider, for his services at the Vineyard. Luxa had promised to send two doses of vaccine to the nibblers in the jungle for them in due time, and Henry found the idea was perfect.

"Fly you high!", Henry heard Ripred call after Nike when she finally lifted off, and he stood beside the gnawer, shouting his own "Fly you high!"

Gregor could be heard answering – "Run like the river, Ripred – fly you high, Death Rider!", Luxa was still as stone. She was most likely too shaken, by what had happened on the plane and by what she had found out about her own people, to talk.

Henry and Ripred watched them disappear out of sight side by side before the gnawer turned to him. "Well, Lapblood and I better get back now and spread the news. And what will you do?"

Henry drew a blank. He had not even thought about what he wanted to do now until this moment when he suddenly felt Thanatos at his side. His right side – his blind side. His objective became crystal clear all of a sudden, and without looking at Ripred he mumbled "Kismet".

"Oh, so you actually want to try your luck with her?" The gnawer grinned. Thanatos made a confused noise – "With what?"

Ripred threw him a glance – "Oh, did he not tell you?" The flier eyed Henry curiously. "He told me nothing. What even?"

The exiled prince shrugged. "When was I supposed to? Before, I could not find you, and then the cutters attacked." He didn't even feel that bad about this lie, considering what he had heard.

Ripred stared intensely at him as if trying to dissect his motive but was interrupted by Lapblood who claimed they should get going now, before any other unforeseen incidents. So Ripred gave Thanatos the short version.

If Henry was to ever fight properly again, they were to travel to the Firelands and seek out a hermit gnawer named Kismet, an old friend, like Ripred described her. He claimed she was the only one capable of teaching Henry to fight again, and she was the best. Though, he added, convincing her to do so would pose the greatest challenge as she hated humans passionately. "You might know why now", was all Ripred said to that.

On a hunch, Henry asked, "Was she at the Garden of the Hesperides?" The "now" in Ripred's words made him believe it was something they had only found out recently, and the Garden instantly came to mind.

Ripred sighed. "She was. And she lost a great deal, some of it visible, most of it not. But now shoo, get going, go and try her, and once you're at it, tell her I send my regards. Or actually, no, don't mention me, it'll make it a tiny bit less likely she'll tear you to shreds instantly."

"Did Ripred even tell you anything else about this "Kismet"?", Thanatos voiced concern after they had already left the jungle behind. They had exited it on the east side and were now flying through a series of uncharted but familiar tunnels, from their time running errands for the nibblers. Henry believed the citadel was fairly close, but the cutters didn't bother them anymore. They were probably busy figuring out where the battalion, they had sent to the Vineyard, had vanished to.

"Just that she was an "old friend", and that she is my best hope at ever being useful in battle again." Henry sighed, "All he told me, besides that, was, that she lived in the Firelands as a hermit, hated humans and... he mentioned something about seeing in a different way than with your eyes in that context, I believe. I'm not sure what exactly he meant though. I mean, I'd have asked more, but when would I have had the time?"

Thanatos couldn't really argue with that, so they continued in silence. "Actually, he did mention the crawlers here would know her. Do you think he meant the ones at the citadel?"

Thanatos made an unidentifiable noise. "Maybe. I mean, I don't really need to rest, but I doubt we'll find someone who's apparently so high-skilled on our own."

They ended up paying a quick visit to the citadel and the crawlers there instantly recognized and welcomed the "Wielder of Light and Rider of Death" – as they had modified his name – and his flier. When Henry asked for Kismet though, Zick, who was still their spokesman, shuddered. "Do not go to gnawer, do not go."

"Listen, she's the only reason we are even here – nothing personal, but still." Henry was slightly annoyed. "It's not like I am asking you to come with me, I just need an approximate direction, that's all."

After a little toing and froing Zick fetched a different crawler who described a path leading to the outskirts of the Firelands. Apparently, Kismet's nest was in the crater of an inactive volcano, on the far east of the Firelands, but to get there they had to go deeper.

The crawlers pointed them to the tunnel, that they spoke of as "Path of Styx", and told them to follow it until the stone turned black. At that point, Kismet would surely find them herself.

Without further ado, after a quick meal though, Henry and Thanatos started their trek down the Path of Styx. It took them nearly an hour of constant descent to reach a point where the stone, that formed the tunnel around them, turned pitch-black and glossy. Thanatos told him it was volcanic rock, and that they had officially reached the Firelands now.

Henry had been here a couple times when he, Luxa, Vikus and Solovet had visited the Fount, it laid almost directly at the western border of this part of the Underland. Though never had they traversed far in, apparently, dangerous and partially unknown creatures had made the volcanic caves their homes. Stingers and pinchers were the two that came to mind, Henry had also heard of a type of twisters that lived here.

Now, the tunnel was getting narrower and Thanatos soon had to land, because he wasn't able to even spread his wings anymore, as their span exceeded the diameter of the tunnel. "And what are we going to –"

Before the exiled prince could finish his sentence, a strong blow suddenly hit his lower legs and knocked him over. Thanatos' head jolted up, but it was too late. Within seconds an immense force catapulted Henry into the air and against Thanatos, together they crashed against the wall. When the exiled prince had regained his senses he realized something like a fleshy whip was pressing against his throat, pushing him against Thanatos and the wall behind the flier. It took him a second to realize it was the tail of a rat.

In the dim light the shiny walls reflected from somewhere, Henry could barely see a few feet far. All he recognized was a rodent-shaped shadow, that was still threatening them with her tail. Everything had happened so fast, neither Henry nor Thanatos – which was the significantly more impressive part – had heard or seen anything coming.

Now a voice, hoarse and audibly not used to talking much, addressed them, her tone was cold – "A flier and a human down the Path of Styx. I can only presume you were in search of death because it is the only thing you will find here."

After a moment of hesitation, Henry realized this must be the gnawer they were looking for. How big were the chances of meeting a different rat here, in this no-mans-land, after all?

"Actually, we were looking for you." His words must have surprised her, as she released the grip on his throat. Not for a second Henry assumed he was any safer because of that though.

"For me? Hah – and who set you on the suicide mission to look for ME? I do not like company, if choosing this place to live wasn't indicator enough."

Henry pondered for a second but then decided to leave Ripred out. He had said himself it would lower his chances with her. "Well, we are looking for you. Or actually, for Kismet, however much of a difference that makes." He rubbed his throat and arm, against which her tail had slapped and left a burning red marking.

She pondered for a second – "Looking for destiny, are you? And what exactly could someone like you want from her?"

It took Henry a second to get that the word kismet meant destiny before he grinned. "We, I, am here because I could use your help."

He heard the rat break into a hoarse laughing fit. "Help? MY help? Oh, you must be utterly insane. Can't you take a HINT and see I like my peace and quiet here? Now LEAVE – before I decide to forget battle is an art and make it messy."

Frustration – but also angry determination – rose in Henry. We'll see who is more stubborn, he thought. "First of all, let's not rush anything. Threats or departures. Believe it or not, my visit here is the last resort to a problem I've been facing, and I am not leaving until I get the solution. You can try me if you like, but I wouldn't recommend."

Who he presumed to be Kismet, chuckled dryly. "Oh, he has spirit." She paused for a moment, and suddenly, Henry saw her silhouette relax and lean against a wall. For a moment he saw Ripred doing the same thing, back when they had first met, near the spinner headquarters.

Finally, he dared move away from Thanatos who spread his wings and shook, before folding them and sitting down reluctantly. Henry, at last, fetched his torch, he wanted to get a better look at who they were facing.

When he lit the flame, the gnawer before them retreated a few steps, but Henry caught a glimpse at light gray fur and a pink tail. He realized her eyes must not be used to the light, so he remained in place until Kismet herself would decide to draw closer.

"Would you just hear me out? I wouldn't come here if I had a choice, believe me." Henry called, swinging the torch around.

"And what makes you believe I can help you, pup?" Her voice was quiet yet resolute when she finally took a few steps closer, towards the light. When Henry caught his first glimpse at her, he couldn't help but wince back in shock.

Kismet was not overly large for a rat – they were about eye to eye, but extremely emaciated. Her fur was clean and cared for though, which only undermined her haggard shape. It was of an extremely pale light grey, and her body was covered in countless scars of all shapes and sizes. Half of her left ear was missing and her chest, back, and legs had burn marks and cuts all over it. Her tail was partially covered in bandages, like all four of her paws.

Suddenly Henry couldn't help but be reminded of someone else, as he looked at her. He saw himself, all those months ago, back in Splintleg's arena. What had her name been – the champion he and Thanatos had killed that day. Oh right, Sizzleblood. They shared the same size and posture, even their fur was of very similar color. Though, while Sizzleblood's had been of a more saturated grey, Kismet's looked almost bleached out by time. For all their similarities they could have been sisters. Well, maybe they were. Who could really tell?

But it hadn't been the color of her fur or the similarities to Sizzleblood that had shocked Henry so much. No, he had winced back because of her face – it was essentially one giant burn mark, covering the entire right half. No fur grew on it and the exposed flesh was charred and dark.

His first thought was – is this why Ripred sent me to her? Because she is missing an eye like me? But then he saw it was not just that. Kismet's other eye, that had been left untouched by whatever caused the scar, stared blankly into the air, not taking notice of neither him nor Thanatos, who had now come out from behind him to inspect her as well.

Henry wanted to take a step closer to take a better look, but her tail whizzed down before him with extreme precision, hindering him from drawing nearer. "Don't make the mistake to think I can't see you, pup." Her voice was razor-sharp.

Henry was startled for a second. "Are you...", he squinted his eye, "... can you.. see me?"

Kismet chuckled. "First, no I am not blind. Not yet at least. The left eye sees, but almost nothing in the distance. Second – of course, I can see you. You are right there..."

She took a step closer, not making the slightest sound, extended her tail and moved it through the air, following Henry's shape exactly. She brushed his shoulders, the top of his head – avoided the torch and finally the tips of his feet, without a single moment of uncertainty or hesitation.

Henry was left speechless. The entire time her single eye had blankly stared past him, most likely not seeing more of him than he had of her before he had lit the torch.

"How... how are you doing that?" She answered his baffled question with a chuckle. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Actually, I would." When he answered, she jerked her head in his direction. Henry took a deep breath – "It's why I came here. It's what I need your help with." With a slightly shaking hand, he fiddled with his eyepatch and finally took it off.

Kismet narrowed her remaining eye and drew closer, so close her face was barely a few inches away from his. When she apparently had gotten close enough to see his scar, she snorted dismissively and turned her back. "Well, someone had a rough day – so what?"

"That rough day only cost me my ability to fight", was Henry's, equally dismissive, response.

Kismet froze, before turning to him again. "Don't tell me you expect ME to... to TEACH you?"

Henry put his hand to his hip. "Coincidentally, I do."

The scarred rat was so surprised she was speechless for a second, before breaking into vigorous laughter. "Oh, by everything you ever held dear – you must be joking!"

When Henry remained serious, she leaned against the wall again, he could have sworn she was grinning. "Let me guess, it was the old know-it-all Ripred who set you up to this."

Henry widened his eye. "He –", but Kismet didn't let him finish. Her snort was dismissive and scoffing. "Ripred, Ripred – when will he learn to keep his snout out of my business? But no... have the most logical, rational arguments on your side, and he will still get his way, oh he will. Even now, out here, he is still seeking to mess with my life –"

"Well, I mean, that's Ripred for you", Henry shrugged, and Kismet chuckled. "He is an insufferable control freak who can not take defeat, so yes – that is Ripred for you."

After a short silence, Henry thought she was eyeing him curiously, though he couldn't tell exactly. "Though nevermind who sent you – you came here claiming you need my help – but very obviously you don't. Was it he who made you believe you did?"

Henry was confused. But before he could ask, she continued – "Just look at yourself – spirited, determined", she started circling him now, "extremely conceited and self-centered, sure, but since when are those considered flaws out here –"

Henry followed her with his eyes and felt uncomfortable like he was just being evaluated as part of some sort of test.

"You are a survivor, boy. You came here on a whim, most likely against all advice, well-knowing it would possibly mean your death because Ripred surely told you – and yet you came. Rulebreaker, stubborn, persistent beyond anything", she now rattled off adjectives – "You usually follow your instincts, I bet you always attack first and ask later – if even. Thrill-seeker and challenge hunter – and then again, you are a leader, someone who expects everyone to respect him, and if they don't, you find a way to make them – how's that so far?"

Henry was left speechless. Kismet took that as a sign of approval. "Pretty accurate, I take. So, for the love of my sweet solitude, why would someone like YOU ever need help – let alone from me? You seem to be getting by on your own fairly well, and you have the flier too, so how about you get back to your life and leave me to myself again?"

It took Henry a second to regain his speech – "How... how did you...?"

"How do I know all of that? It's fairly simple, actually. You know, if you look close, people in themselves can always be divided into recognizable parts, and certain behavior indicates a certain part. I have spent a long time studying how those pieces fit together. It becomes fairly easy after a while."

Henry blinked a few times, coming to the conclusion she had essentially just referred to people as predictable. "But when did you –" He wanted to ask when a hermit like her had had the opportunity to study behavior when she interrupted him – "Okay, that's enough now. You are aware I know more than a dozen ways to kill you without leaving a single trace, and unless you skedaddle now, your flier will need to collect you from the floor. Piece by piece."

But instead of retreating, Henry held his ground even more firmly. He knew her threats were probably true, but he had the vague feeling she wouldn't actually act on them.

Everything she had voiced so far had sounded like some sort of test to him, a test of his worth. And he was determined to pass. "Look, if you're trying to see how serious I am about this, I have a surprise for you. Because I am not leaving here without getting my way. One way or another."

Kismet didn't move. Instead, he heard laughter. "Oh, you really think you can out-stubborn ME? Well, in that case, I have a surprise for YOU. Because not even your friend Ripred could do that."

Henry hesitated. Simply demanding to get his way from her was clearly not the solution. In so many ways Kismet reminded him of Ripred, all of a sudden. They were both clearly highly intelligent, confident, stubborn and proud, and if he had learned anything about dealing with Ripred, then that stubbornness was never the way.

"No, I don't." His response clearly baffled her, and he continued – "I don't need to. All I need to do is give you one good reason, right? Something that makes it worth your while. And as you apparently seem to know so much about me, do you really think I will rest until I find that reason? Be it the fact that you'd be getting back at Ripred by teaching me, because, in fact, he made a bet you wouldn't."

Kismet broke into vigorous laughter. "Oh, alright – maybe you aren't as stupid as you seemed, well, okay then –", she approached him again, and Henry saw a certain glimmer in her eye when she got close enough to see him – "then you will have to find the impossible."

With that, she turned around and disappeared into a side tunnel, leaving not the slightest trace.

"No, Death, I am sure I can get her to do it. All I need is a reason." Henry was pacing up and down in the small cave they had chosen as their temporary shelter, around an hour later. "Look, she's like Ripred, okay? At least in that way. That wasn't a rejection, it was a challenge. She wants me to impress her. And if that's what she wants, that's what she'll get."

And yet, he thought, she has never treated me condescendingly or unfairly like Ripred. Of course, she hadn't been friendly in any way, but her "You're a survivor" was still ringing in his ears. Wasn't that precisely what... Thanatos had called him, all those months ago, following his request for a short death and his "word"-joke?

"And how do you intend to do that?" Thanatos was hanging from a spot at the ceiling, his eyes were closed.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure yet. I... I'd need to find out more about her." Henry sighed and stopped pacing for a second. "You... you don't happen to know her, do you?"

Thanatos opened one eye. "I believe I have never met her. Or at least I do not recall the name."

All of a sudden Henry asked himself if the flier was being truthful. Or if he simply didn't want to talk about it.

After a long period of silence, Henry sighed. "I'm going back. I need to talk to her again."

"And have your head ripped off too?" Thanatos scoffed.

"No, she won't kill me. Don't ask why, but I am almost certain." Henry himself had no idea where that confidence came from, all he knew was that as of now, he was not scared for his life. "Look, you can stay and rest if you want. I'm going." Henry didn't even wait for a response.

"You're back ALREADY?" Henry heard the frustrated groan from the shadow of the side tunnel, Kismet had disappeared into earlier, when he finally reached it.

"I need to talk to you", he claimed, turning to her. This time, he had left his torch behind. "You didn't even give me the chance to explain what exactly I want from you."

Kismet snorted, before exiting the tunnel and starting to circle him again, slowly. "What could you possibly want other than to learn how to be a better warrior?"

Henry grinned a little. "That is actually not my primary goal."

The light-grey rat stopped in her tracks. "Not?"

The exiled prince tried to hide his excitement about having surprised her. "You've seen what happened to my eye. It is that, what I want to make up for. You –" He fixated her with his gaze, as well as he could in the darkness, "Ripred said you can teach me to see without my eyes." Okay, maybe Ripred hadn't specifically said that, but desperate times excused a little white lie, did they not?

Kismet now stood directly before him, probably seeing him better than he did her. "Is that so... What else did he tell you of me?"

Henry shrugged. "Not much. That you were... an old friend, and the best when it came to fighting. The part with the seeing-without-eyes... and that convincing you would be the hardest part about this whole idea because you hate humans."

Kismet gave a short laugh. "Hate humans? HATE a whole species? Oh, he still has not learned a thing, has he – listen, pup, I do not hate your species, I merely hate a specific type of person, and your species just so happens to bring forth this type more than others. But hate an entire species... how narrow-minded does one have to be?"

Henry widened his eyes. In all his life he had never heard anyone – save maybe Vikus – say anything even remotely close to that.

"Not what you expected, huh? Especially from a gnawer." Kismet seemed to have guessed his thoughts.

"No", Henry admitted. Then he cleared his throat – "About teaching me –", but the rat interrupted him. "Not a chance, boy."

"But why not?" He couldn't keep his voice from giving away some of his frustration.

Kismet snorted. "Why not, he asks. Have you a year or so?"

"I am serious!", Henry insisted. "Just give me the short version!"

"The short version..." Kismet echoed, visibly annoyed, but eventually, she started talking – "Well, first of all, I have better things to do with my time than dealing with a stubborn pup like you, who thinks he knows everything while in fact, he is utterly clueless. Second, and presumably much more convincing in your ears – it would mean a hard time for you. You're clearly used to playing by your own rules, you hate authority and when people try to boss you around. But that is exactly what I would be doing."

She came a little closer, "Because you see, I am like that too. IF I were to... theoretically... train you – you'd be playing by my rules, and mine only. You would have to do things that seem pointless at first, unlearn everything you think you do know about fighting as well as perception and orientation and go way beyond your little lazy comfort zone. Sounds like fun?"

Henry snorted. "If that's all... You think I've never left my comfort zone before?" His mind went over everything he'd gone through, these last seven-or-so months. It had essentially ALL been out of his comfort zone.

"Name an example, then!"

Henry pondered. Whatever he chose, it would leave an impression on her, and he was determined for it to be a good one. Then he remembered something. He took his eyepatch and moved it to cover the good eye. Then he snapped his fingers, once, twice – and envisioned the room. There was Kismet, cowering on her hind legs, against the wall. The tunnel made a slight turn left, where she stood, and Henry confidently walked towards it. He picked up a rock he had perceived, about as big as his hand, turned around to the rat and tossed it at her.

Henry heard no impact, and when he moved the eyepatch into place again, he could see she had caught it with her tail in mid-air.

Kismet was grinning now. "Now that... is something not many humans are capable of. I'll admit this much... you already being able to utilize basic echolocation would speed things up just a little bit."

"So, I'm a step closer to convincing you?" Henry put his hands to his hips. She grinned. "A step. A baby step – but a step."

"I'll do whatever it takes", he simply said, and Kismet's expression was puzzling.

"Anything –", she said, while moving closer, "well then... how about you do what I asked before – the impossible. Shouldn't be a problem for you, should it now?"

Henry saw her squint her eye to look at him. In the dim light, it must be even harder than usual. And suddenly... he had an idea.

"Not in the slightest."


	7. Trial

The flight back to the jungle and the nibbler colony took them but a few hours, now that Thanatos knew the way.

This time they avoided the Vineyard and took the path over the waterway instead because they did not entirely trust the cutters to be gone and the plants back to normal yet. In addition, none of them really wanted to see Frill's or Hamnet's corpses lying on the field of what had formerly been Starshade.

Lovelace and the others were positively surprised to see them back so soon, but Henry immediately excused himself and ran to Teslas' workshop. He ended up telling the inventor the entire story – and what he needed of him.

"Hmm... I mean, that would be a first, even for me. A vision aid lense for a gnawer... Are you sure about this?"

But Henry countered – "What would you do if it was you?", and Teslas didn't really have a response to that. And even he had to admit – this would be a great gift, possibly one of the greatest one could give.

It was a nice change working with Teslas again. Henry remembered how he had complained the work at the bellows was hard, while easily handling it with a single foot now, and laughing about the latest story the inventor had to tell.

When Henry asked him about Luxa finally, Teslas told him they had harbored her for around a month, after Cevian had found her and Aurora stranded in the jungle. She had visited his workshop only once, but he remembered her vivid interest and amazement at the things he could do.

The whole process of making the lense took them the entire day because Teslas was never satisfied with the cut. When he, at last, presented him with the result, Henry was already yawning.

He decided to spend the night at the colony and start their trip back the next morning. Thanatos wasn't complaining, he had spent the day looking after Curie and the two babies, one of which Luxa had named Cube.

Henry grinned when he entered the cave the nibblers used as a nursery and saw Thanatos lying on the floor, the two babies climbing around on him, Curie watching with amusement. He had his eyes closed, opened them though when he heard Henry enter.

"Well, how's it going, you guys having fun?" He sat down next to Thanatos and the flier grunted. "They should long be in bed, but how about you try calming down two baby mice who seem to have way too much – h... hey, stop that, no come on, get off me now..."

Henry grinned and watched for a while longer, before finally plucking Cube from Thanatos' chest and watching Curie stop Scale from tugging at his toes. They sat both babies into the nest someone had prepared earlier, but they immediately started complaining and attempting to climb out.

"Told you so", Thanatos had rolled over and was looking into the nest as well now.

Lovelace briefly poked her head in to fetch Curie – "You are much too old for the nursery, dear, and the babies are in good hands."

"Bye Thansos! Bye Henry!" She called, and the exiled prince threw the flier an amused glance. "She STILL calls you that?" He chuckled. "I thought she was over the baby-talk!"

The flier glared at him. "Do not even start, Henry, you hear? DO NOT even start." Henry had already opened his mouth for more mockery, despite Thanatos' warning, when he noticed Cube had almost crawled out of the nest. He quickly pushed him back in and sighed. Now he understood what Thanatos had been talking about when he said they didn't want to go to sleep.

After full five minutes of failed attempts to try and calm them down, the exiled prince and the flier were about to give up and call for help, when Henry suddenly remembered something.

Thanatos watched fascinated as the exiled prince started humming a melody he had never heard before. He immediately had the attention of the babies, they and the flier listened curiously as Henry started singing.

_Dancing in the firelight,_

_See the queen who conquers night,_

_Gold flows from her, hot and bright._

_Father, mother, sister, brother,_

_Off they go – I do not know_

_If we will see another._

The song sounded cheerful and calming, the melody was upbeat and the babies lied very still, gawking at Henry now. Thanatos started smiling at the next stanza, as it was about the nibblers themselves.

_Catch the nibblers in a trap,_

_See the nibblers spin and snap,_

_Quiet while they take a nap._

_Father, mother, sister, brother,_

_Off they go – I do not know_

_If we will see another._

Suddenly, something started to feel off about the song. The flier watched Henry's face for some sort of change, but he was grinning as ever, cheerfully snapping his fingers to the beat.

_Now the guests are at our door,_

_Greet them as we have before,_

_Some will slice and some will pour._

_Father, mother, sister, brother,_

_Off they go – I do not know_

_If we will see another._

When Henry stopped, the mice started squealing for more in their own tongue. Henry had to sing the stanza about the nibblers three more times before they finally settled down and he looked back at Thanatos – "Let's get some sleep ourselves, hm?"

As they made their way to the very same cave they had slept in for three months, during their longest stay at the colony, and would sleep in now, Thanatos asked Henry about the song.

"Oh, it's just an old nursery rhyme I remembered from when Luxa and I were little. It had the part about the nibblers, maybe that's why it came to mind." The exiled prince answered.

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "A... nursery rhyme? I don't know... maybe it is only because I hear it for the first time now, as a grown-up, or maybe it's just me in general but... don't you find some of the lyrics a little... odd?"

Henry stared at him, confused. "Odd? Of course they're odd. It's a children's song. What did you expect?"

"No, that is not what I meant." Thanatos shook his head while trying to think of a way to express his thoughts in words. "I meant... odd in the sense of... dark. Like... catch the nibblers in a trap? What trap? And the term "spin and snap" sounds more than questionable if you ask me." He tried to think of the first and last stanza, but he had only heard those once and he couldn't remember any exact phrases.

To his surprise, Henry broke into vigorous laughter. "Oh come on, you're reading way too much into this. It's a kid's song, so relax. And even if it's maybe worded a little weirdly, what harm could possibly come from it? The babies loved it, okay – and they calmed down, so be happy."

Thanatos couldn't really argue with that, so they continued in silence until they reached their cave.

After around a minute of lying in silence, Henry spoke – "Hey, so, you do enjoy taking care of kids. Even though you always say you aren't a babysitter!"

They were lying back to back again, and Thanatos grunted – "I mean yes – if the babies are nice, and actual babies, not grumpy, disobedient teenage princes."

They both laughed at that and Henry realized this was how it was supposed to be, harmonious and relaxing. Right now he felt like he could forget everything he had heard him say to Hamnet. Like they could just stay like this forever, not having to worry about trust or dishonesty. But after a short silence, Thanatos made that wish impossible – "Hey... Henry? I've been meaning to ask... ever since the battle with the cutters... is everything alright with you?"

Henry's throat clogged immediately. He was glad he was facing the wall and not his flier. So many things burned on his mind that he wanted to just scream at him – why did you tell Hamnet and not me? Do you truly not care about me? Did you really only bond to me because you had no other way of saving me? But he kept his mouth shut.

"Mhm... of course. What would be wrong?" The words felt dry in his mouth, and for some reason, his eye started watering.

Thanatos was silent for a moment again. "I... I don't know, it's just... you are more reserved, I guess, since then."

"I have a lot on my mind." Finally an honest answer, Henry thought.

"About Kismet? I'm sure you're right, she'll come around. Especially after what you're bringing her. That was actually an ingenious idea, the vision aid, I mean."

"Thanks. It... it just... made sense, you know? And once I get her to train me, I'll be useful again. I promise." Henry shut his eye, he had trouble suppressing the tears all of a sudden. What was that, inside of him, that hurt so much, whenever he was forced to lie to Thanatos?

The flight back to the Firelands the next day was uneventful. Henry and Thanatos barely spoke, instead, the exiled prince started thinking about what to say to Kismet. He knew his gift was precious, but he also knew she had high expectations. Who really knew how high...

When Thanatos landed back in the cave he had waited in while Henry had gone back to her the day before, he curiously eyed him. "You're... very determined to do this, aren't you? Like, more than just pride-determined or stubborn-determined."

Henry turned back to him, resolve in his eyes. "I am."

"Any... particular reason?" Thanatos was now cowering at the wall.

Henry hesitated and looked away. "I...", he sighed, "look, back on the island, when I was doing the parkour, remember what I told you? I said it was good for my self-esteem, that it gave me the feeling of being good at something again."

Thanatos listened silently and watched Henry frustratedly kicking a pebble. "Hey, you know what – you know how I feel right now? I feel like shit, that's how. I feel like I have not learned or achieved a single thing, like I still am the same defenseless, pathetic traitor who fell off that cliff and begged you for a quick death because he was convinced he was a goner anyway."

"But that is not true..." Thanatos finally spoke, his amber eyes piercing Henry.

"It may not be, but to me, it feels like it is. Look, I once killed a full-grown rat on my own, now I can not even judge if something is in reach of my sword or not." Henry sighed, "I am doing this – I WANT to do this because I want to stop feeling... feeling so..."

"... weak?" Thanatos finished his sentence, Henry thought he saw compassion in his eyes. He lowered his gaze.

In a quieter voice, he continued – "If there is any way... any chance, be it oh-so small, to ever regain that control, that... that feeling of power and confidence... I'll do anything. Be it submitting to the training of a gnawer, and whatever she plans to put me through."

When Henry looked up at him, Thanatos was almost shocked at the amount of bitter resolve in his eyes. Never before had he seen Henry so seriously determined, and suddenly it struck him how much the boy had matured over the last half-year.

"Good luck then", Thanatos had a feeling it was for the best to stay behind again. Somehow he had a feeling this was something Henry had to do on his own.

The exiled prince nodded at him, before stepping out of the cave. He had left the torch behind again, finding the eerie reflections on the smooth walls gave off enough light to not trip over his feet.

"I was wondering for how long I'd be rid of you", as usual, Kismet had not made any sound. When she spoke from behind Henry, he jerked around.

"I told you I'd be back", he stood before her now, the exiled prince and the gnawer locked gazes.

"You found the impossible?" She snarled, shifting her weight.

Henry reached for his back pocket. "I wouldn't call it impossible, as it exists right here – but to you, it will feel impossible."

She curiously extended her hand towards the present he had brought her. In the dim light, Kismet saw almost nothing. Her finger slipped on the loop at the end of what appeared to be a handle and she raised the round, transparent lens that was mounted at the end to her face.

Henry curiously watched her as she held the glass to her face. He could not see her expression well, but he registered she had frozen in shock when she looked through it.

Slowly her head turned his way, and for the first time her remaining eye, that looked weirdly distorted through the lens, actually seemed to look at him instead of passively staring in a random direction.

She was silent for a long time, using the vision aid to look around properly for, what Henry thought, the first time in forever. He stood still and let her have the moment, though his impatience was rising with every second that passed.

When she finally lowered the lens, he saw her claw was shaking. "Where did you get this?" Hadn't Henry listened carefully, he'd have missed the slight tremble in her voice.

He shrugged, he had been prepared for this question. "I have a friend who's good with making all sorts of things. I asked him for a favor."

Kismet was silent for another minute, simply staring at Henry before she raised the lens again. She seemed to muster him properly for the first time before she continued – "You surely didn't intend to give this as a free gift, from the goodness of your heart."

Henry put his hands to his hips. "It is part of a deal."

She chuckled dryly, before lowering the vision aid. "You still expect me to agree to train you?"

Henry nodded. "This is your... payment, if you so like."

Kismet was silent. The exiled prince sighed. "Listen, I know you don't want to do this, but I need it." He clenched his fist, "I need to feel like I can... at least take care of myself again, I've been feeling weak for more than a month now, and I can not stand it any second longer. Why do you think I – a human – came here, to the end of the world, to try and convince you – a strange gnawer – to take me as a student? Do you think this was easy for me? Do you think I would even BE here if I wasn't entirely serious about this?"

After a long pause, Kismet moved away from the wall. She took a last glance at Henry and sighed. "I know that you have your reasons. I am not certain you truly understand what you are getting yourself into, though. You think the life out here has made you immune to any peril, danger or trouble, but you are oh so wrong. I may not know what you've been through so far but had life really brought you to your knees already, I would see it."

She paused – "And before you say nothing can bring you to your knees, let me stop you right there – because believe me, boy, everyone can be broken. Take it from someone who had the same arrogance in her youth, and who had to learn she was wrong the hard way."

Henry stared at her, suddenly seeing her in a different light. Had she, until now, only been the untouchable, great warrior he had wanted to learn from, now he suddenly asked himself why she had chosen life in solitude, here, so far from civilization or really any other living soul at all.

He doubted she would tell him though – apparently, not even his own bond wanted to talk about his past, so why should a stranger? Angrily, Henry shook his head. Now was not the time to think about Thanatos. "And if I tell you I am willing to take my chances?"

She sighed. "I knew you would say that, that's why I have a response – you may stay, pup."

Henry jerked around, unbelievingly, but Kismet interrupted him – "Before you start celebrating – entirely unjustified, I might add – know this, I am not agreeing to teach you yet."

The exiled prince stopped and furrowed his brows in confusion. Kismet pierced him with her glance through the lens. "How about we form a contract. I put you on trial – for one week. Seven times going to bed, seven times waking up. If you pass the trial, THEN I will consider actually training you. But if you fail – you finally leave me alone. And that for good."

Henry held her intense gaze. "Oh no, no, no... I only do all or nothing. If I pass your trial, you do not CONSIDER training me, you DO train me. And that until not you, but I, am satisfied. And if I fail, I leave you alone. I promise."

Kismet chuckled dryly. "I almost forgot you were so used to having things your way." She paused for a second, before turning back to him. "You know what, I like all-or-nothing. Always did."

After another second of silence, she sighed – "Alright. You get your way one last time. Emphasis on "last". Because from now on – you follow my rules. If you want to pass, that is."

Henry wanted to scream of joy when he realized he had gotten her to accept, but held back. All he had to do was endure a week of what he presumed would be her trying to get him to give up in every possible way, and he would be one step closer to not feeling weak anymore. Finally.

"I repeat – do not celebrate. It will not be easy." She grinned sourly.

He grinned back – "Oh, I am aware of that."

"Then go and tell your flier, wherever he is, that you will be staying here the next week. But tell him to not stray far off – he might need to pick you up soon!" Her mocking voice followed him as he already descended down the path towards Thanatos' cave.

When he stormed in, the flier, who had been hanging from the ceiling and resting, almost fell off his hanging spot from shock. "I presume it worked, judging by how excited you are."

Henry grinned. "Well, kind of. She said she'll put me on trial for a week. I assume she'll try everything to make me quit, but we both know I won't. Not now that I'm so close. Whatever she has in store for me – make her bring it!"

Thanatos chuckled, eyeing him from half-closed, amber eyes. "So you will stay here? You know, I'd have serious doubts about leaving you with a rat normally, but with Kismet, I have a feeling, had she wanted to kill you, she would have already done so long ago."

Henry looked at him. Suddenly he realized they would now part ways – Kismet had not said anything about Thanatos being allowed to stay, she presumably wanted Henry to herself, without distractions. And besides, what would Thanatos be doing here, while Henry was with Kismet?

"You...", before the exiled prince could ask what he intended to do, Thanatos jumped down from his ledge. "I'll go back to the mice, probably. I am certain Lovelace will let me stay a week, and our plague vaccine should arrive soon as well, I can wait for it there and bring it to you when it comes."

Henry nodded. His throat lumped at the prospect of being separated from Thanatos, and at the same time, he thought this was his last chance to get all the questions off his chest before he would have to focus on other things.

He was close to opening his mouth, just spilling what he had heard and asking for honesty, when Thanatos interrupted him – "I'll pick you up in a week, I assume I won't be needed here sooner."

"You're always needed." The words escaped Henry's mouth almost on their own before he even realized what he had said.

Thanatos froze, and in his gaze lied sympathy and warmth. "Thanks. And so are you, so do not let that rat kick your ass too badly, you hear?"

They both chuckled before the flier darted out of the cave and lifted off, leaving Henry in the darkness, following him with his gaze as well as he could, thinking about all the things he had, once again, not found the strength to say.

Kismet had waited for him at the same tunnel entry she had disappeared into after their first meeting. She led him in and Henry ended up lighting the torch after all, to be able to see in the now absolute darkness.

Not long after, they arrived at a steep wall, that Kismet climbed with the confidence of many years of practice. Henry followed, after unavoidably extinguishing and packing away the torch, almost blindly, carefully using his hands to find ledges to hold on to.

Finally, he heaved himself over the edge of the cliff into a cave. When he had re-lit the torch and saw it was nothing but another empty space he wanted to ask Kismet why she had brought him here, but then he suddenly noticed the carvings on the walls. Was this cave... where she lived?

They were scraped into the stone with presumably her own claws, so he had overlooked them at first, but when Henry held the torch closer to the wall, he saw they were everywhere.

"Did you make all of these?" He was suddenly reminded of the walls in Teslas' workshop, covered in sketches of his inventions.

"I have to document my research somehow, don't I?" Her tone was amused, "Besides, these are only the basic ones, maybe one day I'll show you the rest."

Henry spent a few minutes glancing over the markings, but he didn't understand a word. It was all cryptic symbols, at least to him – he assumed Kismet wrote in a way so that only she could read it.

She left him little time to admire the carvings though. Kismet made him, as the first order of business, run an obstacle course, very similar to the one he had made for himself on the island. She made him do three entire laps, and Henry only pulled through because he was in top-shape now.

He had just collapsed on the floor of her cave, after finishing the third round, and was thankful he had some water left when he heard her laugh. "You'll run the course three times every day, we do not want you to grow fat and lazy, do we now?"

"Oh, I can do that", Henry answered, "But you really need to tell me when you set up an obstacle course, after all, you only decided you'd train me, like, an hour ago."

For a moment she hesitated, and Henry knew he'd caught her. "I set up nothing. It naturally existed, and I, as someone who knows the land, decided it should be an obstacle course from now on."

He had to admit, the excuse was pretty good. Still, he decided for himself she must have known for a while she wouldn't get around taking him in. He made a mental note to find as much evidence as possible, as a way to get back at her for future torments she'd probably put him through.

"But you are not primarily here to become physically fit, are you?" Kismet continued, and he heard something like vice in her voice. "That's why I now want you to do what you did when you demonstrated your oh-so-amazing echolocation-skills earlier. Drag that fancy eyepatch over to the other side."

Henry looked up, surprised. "But then I won't see anything!"

"That is the intent, genius." She snarled.

Henry furrowed his brows while sitting up, nervously fumbling at his eyepatch. "And... for how long?"

Kismet pondered. "A few days... the entire week if I feel like it."

Henry's eye widened. "But –"

"Ah – I warned you, do not "but" me, or I'll kick you down that cliff faster than you can scream for your flier", she hissed.

Reluctantly, he obliged, dragging the patch over to the good eye. His last glimpse was at Kismet, standing in a corner, holding up the lense he had given her and scraping at the wall, as if marking down something new, then he saw nothing anymore.

The next hour Henry spent getting used to being entirely blind – he reeled around for the most part and his fingers ended up hurting from snapping them too much.

It was a frustrating and terrifying thought how much he had truly relied on his eyesight so far. Yes, the echolocation was useful, but Henry had only ever thought of it as a last resort, not something to constantly use.

Kismet left him alone for the most part, which he was grateful for. He ended up making himself a bed in a far corner of the cave, as well as he could under these new circumstances.

When he heard his stomach growl from hunger, he realized he had not eaten anything the entire day. He asked Kismet what was for dinner, and shortly after she brought a stone plate with something that was apparently their food.

Henry could hear her teeth cracking open something crunchy, and cautiously reached for the plate. He still could not see anything, and for the first time, he asked himself if that was maybe a good thing, in this one particular case.

Henry carefully picked something up, his fingers found on the plate, and took a bite. It made a loud crunching sound and whatever it was, it tasted bitter and somewhat earthy, but Henry realized it wasn't the worst thing he had ever eaten before.

He pondered for a second, whether he even wanted to know, but finally, his curiosity won and he asked Kismet what it was.

"Firebeetles, of course. They are everywhere – and really the only edible thing you can get in this no-mans-land."

Henry almost choked on what he now knew was a beetle and regretted his decision to ask instantly. Kismet laughed at his coughing fit – "Relax, they are very safe to eat, and they provide enough to keep you alive... for the most part."

Henry had dropped the rest of the beetle and slid away from the plate until his back hit the wall. "I am NOT eating bugs for the rest of my stay here!" He exclaimed while reaching for his water bag.

"Well then, have fun starving. Because it is the only thing you will GET here. I thought you had the resolve to stay – will you let a couple beetles stop you?"

Henry sat there, for a minute, back against the wall, fighting a war against himself. She had a point, and he would surely not back down from their entire deal because of something as trivial as food. Then again, he was to eat bugs – and everything inside the exiled prince revolted at the thought.

Alright, he sighed, what the hell is more important – learning to fight again or my oh-so-sensitive stomach?

The next moment he reluctantly approached again, reaching for the stone plate. What had that old rule of his been – yes, right, if you did not think about it too much, it was fine.

After Henry had managed to choke down a few of the Firebeetles, telling himself over and over that it would be like the raw fish eventually – he'd get used to it – Kismet said he was free to go to sleep. They would properly start tomorrow.

"But today still counts as day one, right?" He made sure while taking off his boots for the night and untying the stripe of leather that held his hair together.

"Of course, of course, why would it not. After all, you learned a valuable thing today – that is how to eat beetles." Her tone was mocking and Henry didn't bother answering. "Oh – one last thing!"

Henry was already lying down, trying very hard not to think about what other things she could possibly make him do tomorrow when he heard Kismet's voice again – "You never introduced yourself. Or do you wish me to call you "pup" for the rest of your stay?"

"Won't you do it anyway?" Henry groaned, and the rat laughed. "Maybe. But at least I'll have options."

Henry sighed. "Names... names... I have so many of them at this point. I'm the "Wielder of Light" for the crawlers, that bitch Cleaver and some of his friends dubbed me "Prince of Rats", Sandwich named me "Death Rider" in his prophecies... but honestly, Henry is just fine."

"Henry", Kismet repeated. She seemed to ponder, "Henry, Henry... no, no... you know what – "pup" it is."


	8. Perception

Henry awoke from his stomach growling the next morning. He had only eaten a few Firebeetles for dinner yesterday, and it had not even remotely filled him up. He was not particularly eager to get to breakfast though as he had a feeling it would be the very same beetles again.

He was listlessly chewing on one of the bugs, which were about as big as the palm of his hand, and felt like he'd had enough of Kismet already, even though they had just started.

Henry was hungry and frustrated and she had not given him a single answer yet. "Hey, I mean I get you like your secrets and all, and the whole "I don't get why I have to do it"-thing is part of the fun for you, but I want some answers now", he addressed her, forcing himself to swallow the rest of the beetle.

Kismet was silent for a moment. "If you want answers, you'll have to ask questions first."

Henry groaned. "Okay, well – first of all, what exactly is it that you plan on teaching me? And do not say "what you asked for", I know that, but I want to know how – what exactly will I learn that can hone my perception?"

He believed he heard Kismet chuckle. "That is a fair question, and I am impressed to see your confidence in your ability to pull through this trial week is still strong, as you seem to assume already that I will, in fact, teach you something. So, I might just as well reward that."

She paused for a moment. "Alright... where do I start...? Essentially... I will attempt to teach you what I use myself. I'm pretty sure you guessed I do not see with my eyes. Partially because one of them is gone and the other useless, unless the thing I am looking at is directly in front of me."

Henry chuckled dryly. "Yes, that was kind of obvious. But what... what do you do? How can you see without using your eyes?"

"The same way you do it – only on a much more advanced level." He heard her bite a beetle in half, the crunching sound filled the entire cave.

For a moment Henry was confused, then he realized – "Wait, are you talking about echolocation? Do you use that to see?" Then he furrowed his brow. "But no, that's impossible, you don't make any sounds that could bounce off things... do you?"

Kismet chuckled. "That is precisely why I told you the fact that you have already passed the first threshold in echolocation will speed things up a little. Oh and do not hurt your head trying to understand what I do at the current moment. It will come in due time."

Henry groaned. He hated people who deliberately kept secrets to feel smarter, Ripred did it a lot, and now Kismet too. On a whim, he asked her – "Does that have anything to do with why you make me cover my eye?" He tugged at the eyepatch that was still on his good eye.

Henry could almost hear Kismet's grin. "You truly are not stupid, well-perceived. A few days without your eyes entirely will prepare you better for the future than a month of training with them."

Henry pondered if she was trying to hone his other senses like this, but before he could ask, Kismet started talking again – "I am almost positive we are out of water, by the way. Go fetch some, will you?"

Henry furrowed his brow. "And where?"

"Follow this tunnel", he heard her knocking on the wall opposite him. "Then, after around ten minutes, you need to take the opening on the right, you can not miss it!"

"You want me to leave the eyepatch on, right?" Henry sighed. This would be interesting.

"And do not even think of so much as peeking out from under it. I will know, and if you do – you're out. Got it?" She snarled, and Henry heard the clanking of something falling next to him. "Fill this pot and your own, and come back here. But do not drink the water, it is not fresh, you will boil it after you fetched it."

"You want me to boil water without my eyes?" Henry called, but received no response. Apparently, Kismet had left the cave, and he groaned. Wasn't this just fantastic?

More than twenty minutes later Henry had finally arrived at the river Kismet must have meant. There had been a couple openings on the right that she could have meant, and it took him ten minutes to find the correct one.

When he had, at last, heard the rushing of water, Henry was immensely relieved. He quickly filled the two pots, one was Kismet's, one his own, and started making his way back. This had been the easy part.

Back in the cave, he couldn't hear Kismet anywhere, and his echolocation didn't pick up on her either. He sat the pots down and pondered how in the world he could light a fire to boil the water, without his eyes.

Henry finally fetched his cooking equipment and carefully tried to dose the fuel so that he wouldn't waste any. Then again, if Kismet wanted him to wear the eyepatch anyway, what good was fuel then?

After a bit of toing and froing, he was almost certain he had poured the correct amount. When he attempted to hang the pot over the fireplace, he knocked over the other one, so that it not only wasted half the water he had fetched but compromised the fireplace too.

Henry cursed frustratedly and was almost ready to say screw it and take the stupid eyepatch off. Kismet and her threats could go to hell for all he cared.

He already grabbed it to drag it to the side it belonged on when he suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place. He was here to learn. And to prove to himself – and to Kismet – that he could do it. Removing the patch would equal giving up, he realized, not even just because he'd be kicked out, but because he would have failed her challenge.

He left the eyepatch exactly where it was. She'd need to do better than this to get the best of him.

Henry ended up biting the bullet and going back for more water. It took him a while to light the fire too, but around lunchtime, he had the result at hand – two pots of clean water.

When Kismet came to check on him and he presented her with the pots, she was satisfied. "You'll add this to your daily routine, kay? Get water, then do the parkour. Well – what are you waiting for? Off you go! You'll do one round and then we'll eat."

"Firebeetles?" Henry sighed.

"What else?"

"Excuse me, what?" Henry was standing in the middle of the cave and according to his echolocation, in front of Kismet.

Three times had he gone to bed and woken up in this forgotten no-mans-land in her cave, and goodness had these three days been a hassle. Kismet had not left him even enough time to catch his breath – instead, she had constantly sent him to run the obstacle course or do her chores, fetch water, clean the cave, wash his and her cooking utensils... In short, Henry felt like he had done nothing but wasted his time so far.

Yes, it had been a new experience to do all of that without his eyes, but was that really worth it? He started to have his doubts about that.

"No dinner today. I didn't have time to catch any bugs." He heard her almost mocking voice.

Henry groaned. To some extent, his predictions had been correct – the Firebeetles had become, like the raw fish when he had first tried it, better overtime. Though the worst part about them was not the taste or the knowledge they were beetles, it was that you never felt entirely filled from them, no matter how many you ate.

"But I need to eat! What am I supposed to do – die of starvation?"

"Oh please, do not exaggerate. You know very well it takes a while for someone to starve. And besides, I didn't say you couldn't get any food. Just that I didn't catch any. If you want dinner – go catch them yourself."

Henry would have stared at her unbelievingly, would he have his eyes. "W... what? You want me to... without my eyesight?"

"You already know the answer to that. Now go – there's usually tons of them in a cave system close by, just take this tunnel and turn left after a minute or so." Kismet's voice already started to sound more distant, she was moving away.

"Hey, wait!" Henry called after her, concerned – "How am I supposed to catch bugs without seeing them?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something!" That was the last he heard of her before her voice faded entirely and Henry was left alone, with nothing but questions and a growling stomach.

Henry groaned frustratedly. He was sitting on the floor of the cave Kismet had pointed him to, with Mys in his hand, trying to stab beetles in the dark. He had originally planned on simply stomping them dead, but that had been a failure because they were very frail and became uneatable after exposed to any sort of pressure.

His best chance was stabbing them with the dagger, and that required precision Henry was entirely convinced he could never achieve without his eyes. Sure, he could echolocate them, they were all around him after all, but once he raised his dagger and attempted to get them, they had already moved a few inches, making the task utterly impossible.

Another half an hour later, Henry was about to give up and go to bed with an empty stomach, when he suddenly heard Kismet's voice from the entrance. "So, how's our exterminator in training doing?"

"It is IMPOSSIBLE!" Henry called, frustratedly stabbing at a random spot. He could hear the bugs scurrying away at the loud noise of metal on stone.

Kismet chuckled. "Oh really? How do you presume I do it then?"

Henry was silent at that. He had actually not given that a thought yet, and now he assumed she must have some trick she hadn't shown him yet. He sighed and forced himself to ask – "Okay, then help me. I'm clueless, in all honesty."

Kismet was silent for a moment, then she spoke again – "Well, how have you attempted to do it so far?"

Henry described he had tried to use his echolocation to envision them, but the fact that they moved had caused the method to fail.

"You know what, I am disappointed. I presumed you were better at thinking outside the box, but apparently, you are like everyone else – so focused on the fancy skills you have that you forget the correct way is often the simplest one. Ever thought of letting the bugs make the noise?"

Henry froze. "Wait... what do you mean?" He called, but Kismet was already gone. Her words had struck a nerve – for some reason he cared deeply about her thinking he was a disappointment. Henry wouldn't have been able to say why, all he knew was, that he was more determined than ever to accomplish this, which he now realized was not a chore but a challenge.

"Let the bugs make the noise..." he mumbled, trying to understand what she had meant. He sat in silence for a while, thinking about her words, when suddenly he heard it.

Tiny feet scuttling along the floor to his right. He could make the sound out clearly now, and as he focused on it, the noises the rest of the Firebeetles in the cave made, faded into the background and this single one became so loud that Henry thought it would hurt his ears.

Slowly he raised the hand with Mys, knowing exactly where the sound was coming from. He gripped the dagger firmly and let it whiz down – only to collect the bug he had pierced from the blade, moments later.

A wide grin spread on his face, he felt the satisfaction and pride, from having figured out the challenge, swamp him, and after that, everything became almost easy.

Henry spent the next ten minutes sitting in the middle of the cave, cross-legged, making not a single sound. His hand was gripping Mys, and instead of hunting the bugs actively, he had them come to him. Whenever he heard the familiar sound of tiny scurrying feet next to him, another one of the Firebeetles joined the pile on his left – the pile he'd make his dinner out of.

Another five minutes later Henry had killed so many of them it would supply him and Kismet for a couple of days – if she didn't eat them all up at once, which could very well be the case. She was a rat, after all.

"I see you were successful, hm?" She greeted him back at the cave, when he came back, loaded with Firebeetles.

"You were right, you know? I'll try thinking outside the box more from now on." Henry didn't know why he felt the need to explain himself to her, but for some reason, in the little time he'd spent with her, he'd learned to value her opinion of him greatly.

"Good. Because usually, that is all it takes to solve a problem."

Henry lit a fire – something he had gotten the hang of after a few times, doing it without his eyes – to at least grill the beetles, and give himself the feeling of eating actual food. "I know."

Henry panted, trying to catch his breath. He was leaning against the wall that you needed to climb to get to the upper area where Kismet's cave was, after having run the parkour twice in a row.

He grabbed a cloth he'd placed on the side and wiped his face. Kismet had told him to occupy himself with physical training while waiting for her, apparently, she had some sort of surprise for him.

Of course, she had, Henry thought. This was his last day on trial, after all. Once more going to sleep, and when he woke up he'd finally be done. Or would he? Henry chuckled – more like, then he'd actually be starting. After all, he was here, enduring all of Kismet's attempts to try and make him quit, only to earn the privilege of having her put him through more of it, only without calling it "trial" anymore.

"You ready?" Henry finally heard her voice and turned towards it automatically. "Whenever you are."

"Then follow me."

He walked in her direction, not without grabbing his shirt he'd taken off to keep it dry, his backpack and his swordbelt. Mys was at his hip at all times, even during training.

Over the course of the last week, Henry had found he started using his echolocation less and less. He'd been surprised about the development himself, but after catching Firebeetles without his eyes for the first time, he had given the purpose of the lesson a thought, and come to the conclusion that if he could locate beetles by the sounds they made, why not other things as well?

By now he was much better at determining the direction of a sound, and following Kismet's voice, for example, was something he could easily do without snapping his fingers to locate her now.

She had not commented on his change, yet after around five days told him he could take the eyepatch off if he wanted to. But Henry had refused.

When Kismet asked why, he told her the whole point of coming here was to learn to rely less on his eyesight, and that being stripped of it entirely helped him do exactly that.

Kismet had not responded, though he felt like the offer had been another test, and that he had passed it by refusing. Her silence had just sounded so... satisfied.

Catching the beetles, which had become part of his list of daily chores, ever since he had mastered it, was great practice too. Henry found he had gotten better and better, soon even locating sounds farther away and single individuals among greater crowds of beetles.

Now, he had no idea where she was leading him, though. All Henry realized was, that the trip took forever. He estimated they had walked for around an hour when the sound of Kismet's footsteps, that he suspected she made on purpose to help him follow her, stopped.

Henry knew it must be a bit away still, but he could clearly hear the sound of rushing water. "Is there a river here?" He asked, his voice loaded with excitement.

Kismet sounded satisfied – "No, it is a lake with a waterfall. But... you can already hear it? That is not bad, considering it's still around half a mile away."

Henry felt pride fill him when he realized how much being stripped of his eyesight had already improved his other senses – and that in such a short time.

When they finally arrived at the lake, the sound of streaming water was almost deafening. "Why are we here?" Henry asked, sitting down and reaching to feel the water, which was pleasantly warm – "Isn't there a water source only ten minutes away from your cave?"

"There is, but I thought – as today is your last day, we'd celebrate a little. And because it's a special occasion, I figured you might want to eat something else than beetles for once."

Henry's head jerked around. "There are FISH in this lake?"

"It is clean, so why shouldn't there be any?"

The exiled prince felt his head spin with anger. "There are FISH only an HOUR away from your cave and you have me EAT BEETLES FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK?! Could you not have SAID SOMETHING?!"

Kismet laughed. "But these are the reward, you see? For doing better than I anticipated. And besides, I rarely come here because the territory of the pinchers is just across the lake, they usually dislike visitors, so we should be careful. I'd rather avoid making enemies, you see?"

Henry sighed. He understood her point, and he was also not exactly eager to suddenly have a bunch of six-feet-long lobsters on his hide, who wanted him off their lands, but still... "Well, enjoy your reward, then", she continued, "The only thing you have to do now –" Henry heard the sound of her plopping onto the ground, presumably getting comfortable – "is catch yourself some fish."

Henry froze up. "Wait... I'm supposed to catch fish? With the eyepatch on? But how..."

"Are you seriously going to make me go over this again? I thought I had given you your answer with the beetles." She groaned.

"Yes, but", Henry was lost, "beetles make noise when they crawl, fish... fish swim! You can not hear fish... can you?"

He heard Kismet scoff. "Well, from above the water you can not, that's for sure."

Henry groaned. He'd have to go swimming then. Not that he disliked the idea, actually, now that he thought about it, a bath sounded rather nice. The water was presumably being heated by one of the many underground volcanos that gave the Firelands their name, and he hadn't bathed for a week now.

Henry took half an hour to just enjoy the water, swim a couple laps, and not worry about lessons, pinchers or fish for a while. Then he heard the noise of Kismet eating.

He realized she had already caught herself a fish and his own stomach started growling in anticipation of some proper food. Finally, he understood why she was so haggard if all she usually ate were the Firebeetles.

Henry decided to give it a proper try, finally, and fetched Mys. He took a deep breath, being thankful he had practiced holding it in the Vineyard of Eyes, and dived.

At first, all he heard was the muffled rush of the waterfall and the sound of his own bloodstream in his ears. Henry tried to focus, to see if he heard anything else.

He had to come up for air three times before he had finally gotten so used to the sound of the water that he was able to block it out and focus on what else he could hear. At first, he heard more rushing, he thought it was waves, but when he tried to extend his arm in the direction of the noise, he heard it change, and move away. Those were the sounds he was supposed to focus on, then.

It was an arduous process trying to fish blindly, and it took Henry several hours of failed attempts and a couple breaks filled with complaining, but when he at last – more by sheer luck than actual skill – managed to hit a fish with Mys, he felt prouder of himself than he had in a long time.

Maybe this is why I stopped minding her challenges – he thought – because once I beat them, they make me feel like I've improved some sort of skill or ability.

Another hour later, Henry had caught three fish in total and ended up grilling and eating two of them instantly. He was happy he had brought his backpack with the cooking utensils, though at this point he was so hungry he wouldn't have minded so much eating them raw too.

After they had both finished their meal, he and Kismet spent some time sitting at the lake, Henry let his feet dangle into the water and thought about what would happen now.

Finally, he turned around to her, and carefully removed the eyepatch. Henry squinted his eye at first, not being used to using it anymore, but when he finally opened it and saw the lake for the first time, his jaw dropped. It glowed brightly – more than normal water bodies of this size – and not from algae, no, from the pool of magma that was apparently located somewhere underneath it. It gave the water a nice, orange glow, and the cave was almost brightly illuminated by it.

Or maybe I just think that because I have not used my eye in a week, Henry thought.

"I passed, didn't I?" He knew the answer to his question, yet he wanted to hear it from her.

Kismet turned her head, in the glow from the lake her fur shone almost white. "You know that. And I have to say – you did better than I thought you would." She chuckled, "Not that it'll be less of a hassle for me to train you because of that, but maybe it'll at least be for you."

They both laughed.

Back at the cave, the whole trip started feeling almost unreal. The only evidence Henry had was his full stomach and his still moist hair. He shook his head – he'd have to make the trip there to fish at least twice a week in the future if he was to stay here, or he'd lose as much weight as in the first month of his exile again.

"Hey – Henry – come along, now that you can see again, I need to show you something!" He heard Kismet call from within her cave. Henry reluctantly followed her into a side tunnel that led away from the main cave and was soon enveloped by complete darkness again. Only now, the darkness didn't scare him anymore. It almost seemed... familiar.

The tunnel descended farther down than he had expected, and when it finally ended Henry was surprised to see light. A lone fuel bowl stood in the corner of the giant cave they were in now, and looking at the walls Henry immediately understood why.

This is what she had meant, he realized, staring at the walls of the cave in awe, when she said the markings in her normal cave are only the basic ones. Every inch on the walls, ceiling and even most parts of the floor, was covered in writing.

Henry saw the same type of simple elevator he had seen the rats use to fetch prisoners from their pits, standing in the corner, she presumably used it to reach the ceiling of the at least ten-feet-tall cave.

"What is all of this?" He called at Kismet, who now stood in a corner, next to what Henry recognized was a stack of man-made books.

"My life's work", she turned around, one of the books – an old tome with a leather cover that looked like it hadn't been opened in years – in hand. "But that's not why we are here now. Look what I found."

She lied the book before him on the floor and Henry knelt down to take a look. He glanced at the page she'd opened and froze. It was an old human cronicle, he saw now, and on the page before him was a family tree – it depicted the royal family of Regalia.

The picture must be ten years old at least, but it still captured his own features with remarkable accuracy.

"So, the human who came seeking my training is not just any human – he is even royalty." Kismet's voice was unreadable. He looked up at her and saw she was holding the vision aid he'd given her. He pondered if it had allowed her to read the books again for the first time in forever, but he knew better than to ask.

"Look, I know... this seems suspicious", he started, trying very hard to think of an explanation, but she interrupted him – "No, honestly, I don't really care."

Henry looked at her, surprised – "But you took the time to read this and find out... why bother if –", once again, she didn't let him finish. "Henry – you still don't understand, do you? I did my research because I wanted to know more about you, not because it made any difference to me."

She paused for a second, "Look, I am an excellent judge of character, I knew you would pull through – it's in your nature. And I had to prepare for that scenario. If you were to be my student, which you will be now, I needed to know if you were who I thought – and you were."

"You remembered me from this book..." Henry mumbled, and she nodded.

"And I called you here today to show you because today marks the day you pass the trial. I will not attempt to make you quit anymore from now on. Things will change – not much, but they will."

Henry noticed she was smiling a little. "Look, I do not care if you are a prince or a beggar, I will hold up my end of the bargain and treat you as a student from this day on, be you royalty or not."

Henry held her gaze for a moment. "As long as you don't ask me to explain how I ended up an outcast, I am fine with that." He almost chuckled at how little his royal status mattered to him, as of lately, either. It made no difference in the Dead Land, so he had stopped caring for the most part too. It was surely curious how your living situation affected your priorities, he thought as he remembered how proud he had used to be of his status.

"Hey, is someone here?!" A voice soon pierced the silence, presumably coming from the main cave above them, and both Henry's and Kismet's heads jerked in its direction. A wave of happiness engulfed Henry as he recognized it – "DEATH!"

He was on his feet within moments and started running towards the exit – when he had reached it he turned around to Kismet one last time, but she only smiled. "Go and tell your flier the news, will you?" With that, she turned around to her books, and Henry started hurrying up the tunnel, towards Thanatos.


	9. Sound

Henry was standing in complete darkness, trying his hardest to focus on the sounds his surroundings gave off. He could hear steps now, quiet but notable. His head turned in the direction they came from and in the next moment, he was hit in the face by a charge of mud.

Henry groaned, wiping it away as well as he could. "Correct direction, but not fast enough!" Kismet's voice sounded from a completely different corner now and Henry jerked around, dodging the next charge at the last second.

"Better, but you are out of focus. You are guessing."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" He groaned and angrily shook his head to get the mud out of his hair.

They did this exercise every day before dinner and he slowly but surely had enough of having to clean his hair from mud all the time, just because Kismet found it funny. He had suggested using water, but she claimed it was harder to throw and aim, which was a fair point, but still.

"I'm not learning anything this way, and you know that!" He complained, didn't listen for her movement and received the next charge to the back of his head – "AH!"

"If you do not start focusing soon, we might as well stop for today." She sounded and Henry sighed relieved. "Oh yes, please! I'm hungry and we still have some leftover fish from two days ago."

Kismet scoffed. "You do realize that I will send you to sit at the cliff for an hour longer if we end this exercise now?"

Henry shrugged. "That's fine. The cliff is so much more pleasant than having mud thrown at you all the time." And when you've hidden your sketchbook under a rock the day before, it's even better, he thought.

After she had finally reluctantly allowed him to leave and clean his hair a little, before joining her for dinner, Henry sighed in relief. They ate their meal in silence, and once more the exiled prince asked himself if this all would ever be worth it – but, after all, he had thought the same before passing the first threshold of echolocation, and that had definitely been worth it.

"You know the drill – two rounds of the parkour, then you sit at the cliff. Two instead of one hour today. I'll keep an eye on you." Kismet had finished her dinner and rose to her feet. She apparently saw how dejected Henry looked and sighed. "You know this will be worth it eventually. I told you why. Keep an eye on your goal, and don't forget you enabled me to use force to make you stay."

Henry chuckled. "I know, I know. Quitting of frustration isn't part of the contract, only my satisfaction with the result can end it, and if I try to end it any other way you are allowed to use any means to make me stay. But seriously, I've been here for more than eight weeks now, and what have I achieved?"

She glanced at him, unbelievingly. "What have you – excuse me? Ohh... you are not diminishing my accomplishments as a teacher with your lacking confidence in your own abilities. You have achieved much, even though the threshold is not passed yet, it will come soon. All that's holding you back is your own attitude, Henry, we both know that. So get over yourself and start seriously trying, and you'll see the results soon. Now go, you have a routine to follow."

With that, she left him to his food, to go back to the cave with her "life's work", as she called it – he suddenly realized he had never even asked her about it before. Oh well, if things continued at this pace, he'd have much time for that later.

Henry sighed. He was tired and his motivation was close to zero, but his determination still burned, even after two months of failure. Kismet was probably right, claiming his own lack of effort was the problem. But, while he had found she was an excellent teacher, usually, they also discovered they had significantly different approaches to a lot of things, which had caused many problems over the course of his stay here.

Henry was, in his entire nature, a "hands-on"-learner. He was good at understanding and creating physical objects and machines, something that connected him with Teslas. In short – to understand something, he needed to touch and see it.

Abstract concepts and theories usually bored him two seconds in, while they were Kismet's favorite thing to talk about. She seemed to have a lifetime of theories and ideas to share, and while some of them were interesting enough to hold his attention for a while, most bored him incredibly quickly, simply because they lacked physicality.

Their different interests and views on learning had made them clash more than once, though Kismet had adapted fairly quickly, and over the course of the last two months, adjusted their training to fit Henry's personality and attention span better, even if not entirely.

After all, she still had him sit atop a cliff for an hour, doing nothing but listening to sounds, every day. Henry had tried, but even with the best intentions, his attention span just wasn't that long. Not even remotely.

Half an hour later he was sitting at the top of the cliff, where she wanted him. But instead of doing his exercise, he had picked up his mother's notebook and was making more sketches of one of his latest ideas

He hadn't shown it to anyone yet, and he wasn't entirely sure when and how he should because it was fairly controversial, even for him. All he knew was that, if he and Teslas built it, and he'd learn to utilize it, it would most likely make him and Thanatos considerably stronger in battle.

The silence burned in his ears and Henry closed his eyes in frustration. He remembered what Kismet had told him, the day after he had passed his trial, vividly. His motivation, his excitement. How much was really left of that now?

He had sat with her for dinner, the day after Thanatos had returned. The flier had brought the plague vaccine and countless stories, none of which beat Henry's own of what Kismet had put him through, though.

Thanatos had asked if he could stay for a day or so after they had caught up, but Kismet said she needed Henry alone to talk about what would happen now, and when the flier had looked at the exiled prince himself, Henry had remained silent.

Thanatos had hesitated but finally left. He had not mentioned where to, Henry had wanted to ask, but he had never gotten the chance. He was certain he could have gotten him to stay, but ever since Thanatos' exchange with Hamnet, that Henry had listened in on, he always felt a certain unease in the flier's presence. The truth was gnawing at him, but he could never find the right words to talk about it. He'd rather let Thanatos leave.

Over the course of the last weeks, the flier had visited a couple of times. Henry found he spent most of his time with the nibblers but had also taken to explore other places. He had never stayed longer than a day though, as Kismet always said he was a distraction, and Henry never disagreed.

During dinner, shortly after the flier had left that on that first day, Henry had finally asked Kismet what exactly it would be that she intended to teach him now. He had passed her trial, and he wanted to know what awaited him after.

"You are here to learn to see, are you not? And that is what I will teach you." She had answered.

At Henry's question as to what exactly she had meant, she responded – "Well, to an extent, you already see without your eyes, do you not?"

"Are you talking about echolocation?" He had asked, remembering she had briefly mentioned that before.

Kismet had eyed him with somewhat of an unreadable expression. "Henry, what you call "echolocation", is merely the first level of three – some say even four – in total."

"There are multiple... levels? To echolocation?" Henry had asked, confused, but this time, Kismet had actually proceeded to elaborate.

She had explained that, when he had had his initial breakthrough, he had passed the first threshold, how she called it, which enabled him to use echolocation on its basic level.

"But there are two more, at least I say that. I know people who say there are four in total, but they don't know what they are talking about", she had scoffed.

"And you use... level three?" He had asked, thinking he had begun to understand why she moved so confidently with her limited eyesight.

"No, level three refers to creatures with specific organs enabling them to use echolocation, like the fliers. It is impossible to achieve without – or so they say." He heard dismissiveness in her voice.

"Most creatures that learn the skill without possessing any special organs, including humans, never even attempt to go beyond level one, because the second threshold is even harder to achieve than the first one, and many struggle with even that – including you, I assume."

Henry had chuckled dryly, remembering his first attempts at echolocation and the frustration he had been facing throughout. "You could say that..."

"Well, here, I will attempt to push you over to level two." She had announced, and it had immediately captured his attention. "So... I'll learn to use a more advanced form of echolocation?"

Kismet had chuckled. "More advanced form... well, I guess you could call it that. Even though I believe it to be an insult to the art. You will not learn a new form of a skill, Henry – if you pass the second threshold and practice to utilize it in your everyday life, you will gain a whole sixth sense."

He had asked for details, and she explained willingly – "Now, you make sounds that bounce off objects, that you can materialize in your head. Imagine how things would be if you wouldn't have to do that anymore."

She elaborated that level two went beyond producing sounds, it focused on using the sounds that already existed around you to visualize your surroundings.

"You see, every sound, produced by you or not, can be used for echolocation. Like you are already able to localize a living being by the sound of its footsteps, you will learn to use those footsteps to visualize the being in its entirety. And not just that – the sounds of your surroundings can be used to see everything – to a practiced ear, the simple sound of dripping water can help you visualize a hall triple the size of my cave here, and more. Think of it as...", she pondered for a second, "... as something like... seeing sounds."

Henry had found the expression confusing, but he had listened eagerly, the things she described sounded almost too good to be true. "But... there is a catch, right?"

Kismet had chuckled. "Of course there is. First of all, it will require you to work hard, harder than for level one, and second of all, you will have to learn to silence those screaming thoughts of yours for a second and focus on what's around you – perhaps the hardest part for someone like you."

Further, she had explained that before they would seriously start with the echolocation training, she would have him do exercises that worked on enhancing his hearing. "Echolocation stands and falls with hearing, and humans happen to suck at it", had been her words.

The first few weeks they had worked on hearing exercises of all kinds, and Henry had been surprised at how much his senses could be honed if it was left to someone who knew what they were doing.

Then, the truly frustrating part begun. The hearing exercises continued, but in addition, Kismet had thought up more and more things that were supposed to help him cross the second threshold. Two months had passed, and while Henry had to admit his senses were keener than ever and he had learned more than he had expected, he still felt like he had made no progress towards the actual goal.

Twice already he had almost rage-quit, after a frustrating, fruitless day, and twice Kismet had reminded him their contract would only end with his own satisfaction.

And ever since around three weeks ago, she made him sit up here for an hour every evening, in a giant cave above her living quarters. It had a narrow ledge, about wide enough for him to sit on it, that reached from the entrance to around the middle. When you sat atop it, you were maybe twenty feet above the ground and about the same distance away from the ceiling.

She told him to use the silence of the cave to learn to focus on the quietest of sounds, to get used to them and learn to perceive them better. Henry had tried a couple times, but after a few minutes gotten so incredibly bored every time, he had always found some other way to occupy himself for an hour. Like sketching, now.

After Henry had somehow survived two hours atop the cliff, with major help from his sketchbook, he returned to Kismet's cave, not without hiding the book again. He had a feeling he'd need it later.

But when the next day came, and it was time to come up to the cliff again, Kismet was already waiting for him at his designated spot – with the sketchbook in hand. "So is this what you spend your time here on?" She scolded, and Henry had to resist rolling his eyes.

"You know what, I should tear it to shreds as punishment for you deliberately wasting my time, but for now I'll confiscate it – together with the other one you own. You get them back when you leave after our contract is fulfilled, and not a day earlier."

Henry knew he should be thankful she left them in one piece, but he was so angry with her that day, that he spent the entire hour kicking around pebbles instead of focusing.

Henry was sitting atop the cliff once more, two days after Kismet had taken his notebooks. Yesterday they had traveled to the lake again to fish, he had practiced blind fishing again. It had not gotten much easier since the first time, but she told him it was a good exercise, and he loved spending time at the lake, so it was fine.

Before he had come up here today, she had asked a question that now occupied his thoughts – "If you can focus on fishing, Henry, why can't you focus on sitting in a designated spot, listening to your surroundings?"

Henry knew the answer – because fishing brought with itself an immediate result, and he was all about instant gratification. The cave was entirely silent at first, but after a while, Henry could make out the quiet sound of dripping water in the distance.

Why was she even forcing him to do this? He understood the purpose of most other exercises, even if they involved hurling mud at him, but this one was nothing short of a mystery. The dripping sound was the only thing he could hear, the more he realized it was there, the louder it seemed to get. Drip. Drip. Drip.

He felt like he wasting his time up here, oh how much he wished he had his notebook right now. The cave was pitch-black, Henry saw not a single spot of light. Drip. Drip. The sound was annoyingly loud all of a sudden, and Henry shifted his head in its direction. Only a moment ago he had perceived it as almost deafening, but when he had gotten annoyed at it he realized, in truth, it was so quiet he could almost not hear it.

Henry furrowed his brow and closed his eye, eager to determine if it was loud or quiet now. The silence around him was all-consuming, he found himself focusing on the sound of dripping only.

It consistently grew clearer and appeared louder, while Henry knew it was the same sound. It was not shifting or changing, only to him it sounded louder or quieter for some reason, depending on... on what actually? On his focus?

Suddenly Henry asked himself if this was what Kismet wanted him to do. Okay, sure... he would give it one more try. It's not like he had anything better to do.

He focused all his willpower on sitting entirely still. His blood rushed annoyingly loud through his ear, it took him a while to get it out of his head. It doesn't exist, he told himself – like when he was fishing or catching Firebeetles – all that exists is the dripping sound.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Henry had no idea how it was possible, but all of a sudden he felt like someone had turned up the volume of his surroundings. The simple sound of dripping water, almost inaudible when you didn't focus, echoed in his head like the sound of a giant bell when you stood in it while it was sounded off. Drip. Drip.

He heard the sound, and as soon as he focused on locating it, he envisioned the leak in the ceiling on the other side of the cave. The sound of the drips echoed in his head, and suddenly he realized this was a sound – a sound he could use to visualize his surroundings.

Like snapping my fingers, he thought, and as soon as he focused on where the sound was bouncing off from, a strikingly clear image flashed in his head. It was like he had just snapped his fingers to take a look at the cave with echolocation – just without the snapping part.

Henry felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement flood him when he realized every single drip allowed him to perceive the cave – from the twenty-feet high ceiling to the thirty-feet away opposite wall. Every crevice, every dent and even the pebble shaped like a star that he remembered kicking down the day before yesterday, still there, on the floor, twenty feet below the ledge he was sitting on.

The drips didn't produce a continuous sequence in his head, they were like static images, only his brain connected them together. He suddenly remembered Kismet talking about "hearing sounds", and realized that was exactly what it was.

Henry was occupied admiring the cave with this newly-discovered method when he suddenly noticed a shift in sound. The noise of steps, strikingly clear now, while he was almost certain he wouldn't even take notice of them if he wouldn't be focusing, approached from behind.

The sound of the steps mixed with the dripping, and he realized they worked together, making the image in his head even more detailed.

Henry could clearly visualize the form of a rat – most certainly Kismet. She was approaching from behind, on silent soles as always. Only now, in this enhanced state, he could clearly hear her.

Henry suddenly realized that if he focused on a certain object, like on the approaching Kismet, the sound told him not only that it was there, but also exactly in what position and how far away it was. Not in feet or inches or any other known measurement method, but in an entirely abstract one Henry's brain seemed to understand and perceive, but he would not be able to describe in words if his life depended on it.

The shots of Kismet, her footsteps sent him, showed, how she remained in one place for a bit, then approached, even quieter. Henry perceived her raising a claw to attack.

His body reacted before his conscience did. In a single, smooth movement, he twirled around, rising to his feet, and drawing Mys. He blocked her claw with the dull side, and the surprised "Oh" she sounded off, rang in his ears, almost deafeningly loud. She quickly regained focus though.

Henry envisioned her getting into attack position. When he visualized her tail swiping in his direction he leaped up and towards her, Mys high in the air. Kismet dodged and attacked again.

In his head, Henry knew he was fighting in complete darkness, but the images of his surroundings, made up from the sounds he himself and Kismet and the dripping water made, were so strikingly clear, he was effortlessly dodging and attacking like he would in bright light.

Kismet wasn't giving it her all, he knew that, and yet Henry felt his excitement rise, as he was able to fend her off. Then, the steady dripping of the water stopped for a second – it was only a short moment of silence, but it threw Henry off completely.

That very moment Kismet used to fling her tail at him, catapulting him against the wall, next to the entrance of the cave. The sound of his own painful cry and Mys clanking against the wall – metal on stone – echoed so loudly, Henry felt like it would tear through his eardrums.

Then, the moment he experienced the sounds as painful – the sensation ended. Henry flung his head, which hurt from the impact, around in the darkness. Panic threatened to overcome him, he was entirely blind again.

From somewhere in front of him he heard Kismet's dry chuckle. "Well, it seems like someone made significant progress today. I was right, as usual. The moment you actually focus and calm your thoughts, you succeed."

Henry's thoughts started reeling. What... had just happened? "What... what was that?" His voice sounded entirely normal again.

"What that was?" Kismet laughed again. "The second threshold, I'm pretty sure."

Henry was standing before Kismet's cave, eyepatch on his good eye. It was the day after his experience in the cave with the cliff, that she had explained, after he had described it more thoroughly, had indeed been the second threshold.

They had spent the entire evening talking about what he'd experienced, and to his surprise, Kismet had been impressed with him for once. She said what he had done was beyond what she'd expected of him anytime soon but immediately concluded Henry was capable of way more than any of them expected – if he only put serious work and dedication in, which was really the only problem with him.

"It is as I said – your own attitude is holding you back, nothing more", she had snarled, and Henry had had to admit there had been truth in her words. He had suddenly wondered if he would have been able to cross the threshold earlier, had he seriously tried.

Now, the patch was covering his eye, leaving him in complete darkness. He was standing still, trying to focus on any sounds that surrounded him.

Yesterday night, he had been able to recreate the weird enhanced state again, when he tried after having gone to bed, and that was what he wanted to do now as well.

Kismet said, now that he crossed the threshold, the training would change. They would from now on practice switching the state on and off, the goal was to learn to differentiate background and foreground sounds, so that screaming and other loud noises wouldn't force him to abort it like yesterday.

But she also said he had a long way to go before that – shorter if he took it more seriously from now on – which Henry promised himself and her, he would.

"You know, you are truly fascinating, Henry", she had remarked yesterday, with a smirk. "At first sight, you seem like such a shallow show-off that I almost made the mistake to write you off from ever learning anything. But then... then you put in some effort – and show that, while you ARE a show-off and an insufferable loudmouth, you also have the willpower to achieve the things you brag about. A truly remarkable quality, indeed."

He had given her words some thought after and come to the conclusion she was right, as usual. Henry didn't know what it was with talking to others about his goals, but somehow, having the pressure of having announced it, made him more determined to achieve them. He may be a show-off, but Henry had always made sure to have actions follow his words. Otherwise, he'd be nothing but a liar and a loser, talking big but never living up to it. In truth, he despised that kind of behavior himself.

Now, Henry tried to focus his attention on any noise that surrounded him. There was the sound of the torch, burning back in the cave. It was crackling silently, but Henry knew what he had to do. Soon the sound filled him up, as the dripping water had. It pained a picture of his surroundings, and when Kismet moved, her steps joined in and enhanced the picture.

He was easily able to block her attacks, they fought for a few minutes when suddenly, a different sound threw Henry off. He was able to keep his focus this time and retained the enhanced state – the sound was that of flapping wings.

He clearly visualized the figure of a flier now – was that Thanatos? He landed on a ledge above the entrance of the cave, and soon he indeed heard the cheerful voice of his bond – "Hey, is this a bad time? Are you guys in the middle of practice?"

Henry was sure he had spoken normally, but his voice echoed in his head, so loudly it almost hurt. Thanatos seemed to notice Henry wore the eyepatch on the wrong side now and was about to ask – "Hold on, he can't see any –", but Kismet interrupted him, speaking quieter, for which he was eternally grateful – "Oh he can see just fine. You can join in an try to attack him if you like. You'll be surprised."

Henry heard and envisioned Thanatos nervous shifting, but eventually, the flier must have thought Kismet wouldn't joke about something like that.

He dove down in an almost insultingly weak attack, Henry easily dodged and would have screamed at him to try harder, if his eardrums would have survived it.

Thankfully, Kismet took over – "No, I mean ACTUALLY attack him. He's fine." She led by example, flinging her tail at him. Henry easily dodged and countered.

They fought for a few more minutes, until Thanatos, who had decided to watch from the side after his first weak attempt, finally spoke – "Okay, but... you need to explain how he's doing this."

Henry felt his focus fade and the sounds around him return to normal volume. He reluctantly pulled the eyepatch over to the correct side. "Take a wild guess!"

Kismet approached from behind, placing a paw on Henry's shoulder. "This boy here has crossed the second threshold of echolocation yesterday."

The exiled prince saw Thanatos' eyes widen. "The... what? Really?" The flier's gaze fixated on him with newfound respect. "So... you could actually see her and me just now... Does that mean your perception problem is solved? And that even without your eyes at all?"

Henry laughed. "It's still a bit awkward... loud noises hurt when I'm in focus... but I'll get there."

"So your training isn't done yet?" Something in Thanatos' voice sounded disappointed.

"He needs a while longer. But I promise, I'll make sure to motivate him properly from now on, as that is really the only thing holding him back. We learned that the hard way, didn't we?" Kismet's grin was challenging, and Henry sighed. "You mean I did."


	10. Honesty

Henry was standing in the middle of a cave, eyepatch over his good eye. He heard many things – the tapping of the little feet of Firebeetles around him, the distant rushing of water, his own blood pumping through his veins – and Kismet's steps, silent as ever.

CRACK – the noise of stone being thrown against stone made his eardrums vibrate. Not this time. Henry focused to leave the loud noise of Kismet throwing rocks at the wall in the background.

CRACK – another stone hit, this time directly next to him. But Henry was prepared. He perceived Kismet darting at him, swinging her tail towards his legs and he jumped up, dodging it.

A deafening screech made his insides writhe and his focus broke at last. He realized Kismet was dragging her claws on the wall and even outside the focused state the noise was almost unbearable.

"Hey, not fair!" Henry covered his ears, and Kismet chuckled, before finally stopping. "Nothing in life is fair, boy – what if your enemies decided to do that?" There wasn't really anything Henry could say to that, so they continued their exercise for a while longer.

Soon, she started throwing some of the rocks at him as well, Henry found it easy to dodge though. She was also almost constantly talking – commentating on his performance, telling him more about her research, really anything. The point was to distract him and throw his focus on the more subtle sounds off, but not today.

After another half an hour Kismet finally decided it was time for a lunch break. "You are getting good at this, you know?" She admitted, and Henry grinned. It was very rare Kismet ever made compliments, and he had learned to value each and every one greatly.

But it wasn't like this compliment was undeserved. In the month since he had passed the second threshold his ability to use this new, sixth, sense, had risen immensely. He had learned to control the focused state better, to switch it on and off consciously and to separate foreground from background noises to not experience any pain from everything that was louder than the dripping of water.

It was almost unbelievable what this new ability allowed him to do. Never in his wildest dreams had Henry ever hoped to achieve such awareness of his surroundings. When he could use his eyesight together with the echolocation, which he had trained to do as well, his precision was impeccable, far better than it had ever been with both his eyes.

Ripred's words came to mind - _Lad, if you get her to teach you, you will not fight like before. You will fight like no human has ever fought._

Henry thought he started to understand the truth in his words now. He had not used this new ability in actual battle yet, but the mere confidence and accuracy he had achieved with all his weapons – sword, Mys and sling – spoke for itself.

When he had shown Kismet the ignifer, a while ago, and told her he knew how to light his blade on fire, she had not been as impressed as he had hoped. "You wish to learn to use stealth and precision, do you not? Not showing off a nice magic trick and send your enemies running with fear of not you, but the fire."

He had sulkily defended his invention, claiming it wasn't merely a "magic trick", behind it was a lot of work, and said outright he was here to hone his skills and learn new things – not to become an exact carbon copy of Kismet herself.

She had still not been entirely convinced of the idea of a flaming sword, but at least she had respected his confidence in himself.

As little as Kismet liked the ignifer, she loved Mys though. Her eye behind the vision aid lense had grown wide and round when she had first seen it, and she had immediately expressed the wish to acquire it somehow. When Henry explained it was his, and not for sale, she had sulkily agreed, understanding his lacking desire to rid himself of it.

Naturally, she had focused during the newest addition to their training program, which were combat-focused lessons, on using the dagger more. Soon after she had announced they would hold sole fighting lessons in addition to the ones to hone his senses and the echolocation, Henry had found out why Ripred had referred to her as "the best when it came to fighting".

Kismet had explained to him that ever since she had become a hermit, she had made it her life's work to study the "art of battle", as she called it. Never before Henry had experienced anyone so passionate about breaking combat down to its essentials and looking for how the pieces fit together best. The books, the writing on the walls of her caves – everything served only the purpose to get behind the art of battle, combining science with combat like Henry hadn't thought was possible until he had met her. Though, if he was perfectly honest – somehow, it fitted her.

Henry had slowly started wondering if she was perhaps a rager, but as soon as he brought it up, she had done something Henry had not expected of her – she had started complaining about the concept of ragers itself. Never before had he seen the logical and reasonable Kismet so, almost irrationally, frustrated at something.

According to her, ragers weren't even true warriors, because to become one you needed to work hard and hone your skills, you needed to study and fall on your hide and scrape your knees. Ragers were not any better than people born into royalty, they had the personality of normal nobodies who had happened to be graced with a sheer insane amount of luck they did nothing to deserve.

Henry thought of his own status as a prince and had remained silent, trying not to take her words personally. Though, at the end of the day, she wasn't so wrong. The fact that he was royalty didn't make it any easier for him to survive or learn – it had essentially been of no use to him ever since he had left society behind.

It turned out that Kismet had made it her life's purpose to study the art of combat until her skills, achieved through work and not luck, would match those of a rager. A far-fetched goal, so Henry thought. He had no idea if it was even possible, but one thing was certain – if it was, he had no doubts Kismet would achieve it.

And now, after he had crossed the threshold, she attempted to not only have him practice his echolocation but also improve on his own fighting skills, especially correcting some of the long-standing mistakes he had been making this entire time without realizing.

They had only held the lessons for a couple weeks so far and yet he had already learned much from her. Now more than ever, Henry was itching to practice his newfound skills, echolocation as well as some of the combat tricks she had shown him, in real battles. He had a feeling he would leave her soon, even if he had decided to wait until a suitable reason presented itself.

Every day when he asked himself if it was time to leave, he thought of what life-changing trick she could possibly teach him tomorrow, and he always decided against it, even if he was already more than satisfied with the results of his time with her. And that had been the deal, hadn't it?

Thanatos flew along the familiar tunnels towards Kismet's cave. A month had now passed, since Henry had crossed the threshold, and still she kept him with her. Or was it in truth the boy, who had requested to stay?

The flier shook the thought angrily – why would Henry desire to stay with her for longer than he had to? Thanatos knew he was making excuses, in truth, he knew the answer very well. She was teaching him useful abilities, being with her was good for him, he learned new things and probably had a lot of fun. And what was really the alternative?

Thanatos let out a frustrated scream, beyond the pitch which other lifeforms could hear. It had all been going so well, before all of this happened. They were... bonds, were they not?

"Oh, look who's back", the voice of the gnawer, that had taken his bond from him for three entire months, interrupted his thoughts, for which he was actually more than grateful.

"Oh yes, I actually have something to tell Henry this time, he'll be interested in this." Thanatos attempted to sound cheerful. He wasn't sure if he had convinced Kismet, he took her for smarter than to fall for pretend emotions, but who really knew.

"BOY!" She called, her voice was screeching and high. A wave of irritation rose in Thanatos – that was HIS name for Henry, and only –

"Yea?" His bond's voice sounded from the cave where she lived, he strolled out and as soon as he saw him, he smiled and raised a hand to wave. "Oh, you're here – nice!"

Was that... his best attempt at sounding happy about the flier being here? How was he not happy? Thanatos saw it in his eye, as clear as the physical changes he had undergone during his stay with Kismet.

The boy had matured visibly again – how old was he now? Seventeen? His face was now that of an adult, he had lost weight and his hair had gotten longer, it must almost reach his shoulders when untied now, further, he had taken to wear a new coat from fur.

While the changes weren't bad per se, Thanatos felt like he had missed out on something, by not witnessing them happen. Almost like when the spinners had kidnapped him and after his rescue, Henry had emerged the confident mercenary that suddenly knew how to take care of himself.

"Henry, I have made an incredible discovery – you must come to take a look!" He made his voice sound cheerful. What if... yes, what if all of that distance that had grown between them ever since the battle with the cutters in the jungle, was only in his head after all? What if all they needed was a proper adventure together, like old times...?

"Oh? What is it?" The spark of curiosity in Henry's eyes was real this time, and Thanatos saw him exchange a look with Kismet.

The female gnawer rolled her eyes. "I know that you have only been seeking an excuse to leave me, this last week. I am aware that this is all you came here to learn, and I will not think ill of you if you end our contract here and now."

Henry seemed relieved. "I am eternally grateful for what you did for me, you know? And I don't say thank you often – he can testify!" His bond pointed at Thanatos, and the flier chuckled dryly and nodded. "Feel honored."

Kismet grinned. "Believe me... I do."

"How about this – I stay one more night, as it's already dinner time, and tomorrow we leave for... wait, where are we going?"

Thanatos sighed. "Alright, I mean you could sleep on the fly, but I am actually due for a little rest myself."

"You can stay", snarled Kismet, "our contract is finished anyway, and Henry has no need to avoid distraction anymore." After a short pause, she continued – "In fact, you can be proud of him. He has achieved much of which I didn't even know if it was possible for a human. He is stubborn and conceited and unfocused – but also a fast and talented learner. If he puts in enough effort, he can get far in life, of that I am certain."

Thanatos eyed Kismet and suddenly wasn't able to hold it against Henry he obviously preferred her company over his now. "I know", was all he answered, and they exchanged a look.

Dinner was sparse, and Thanatos understood how Henry had lost weight now, eating only this for the last three months. Kismet allowed him to sleep in a nearby cave, where Henry had spent all his nights as well, over the course of his stay here.

His bond was already there, stretched out on the fur he slept on. "You awake?" Thanatos asked, and Henry made an unidentifiable sound.

The flier hesitated – should he lie beside him? They had taken to sleeping close to each other even some time before they bonded, it gave comfort and held off the nightmares both of them had, even if Thanatos had never mentioned his own before.

But what about now? All of a sudden he looked at Henry, painfully aware of how far apart they had drifted. Had... had something happened that he wasn't aware of? Had he perhaps done something wrong?

Fear clogged the flier's throat – it was very possible he had made some sort of mistake, it had been eight years since he had had a bond. Who knew what Henry really expected of him?

But the fear was not for having made some sort of mistake – it was for losing this natural connection he had with Henry. Thanatos knew that it had always been there, even shortly after they met. There had been something about the boy that clicked with him – he vividly remembered them flying together for the first time. It had been like they had flown together all their lives, while really just having met. Later, it had prevented him from leaving Henry's side.

Thanatos remembered his conversation with Hamnet when he had claimed the only reason he had stuck with Henry was because he refused to have another preventable death on his conscience.

He sighed, knowing fully well he had once again given in to his fear of getting attached again. He had tried so hard to convince himself that that was indeed the only reason, while inside, he knew it was a lie he told himself to sleep without fear of losing Henry.

But in that case, why am I being scared of losing him anyway – he thought, angry at himself. Losing him... in the worst possible way too. Not to an outer enemy or force of nature, no – by his own choice.

The connection Thanatos had felt from almost the first day they had met, he realized, was at this moment weaker than it had ever been. Could he even still feel it? He gazed at Henry and realized he wasn't sure. His fear grew – fear of losing it entirely – of losing another bond. And that even for a reason he failed to understand.

Thanatos took a breath and realized he was slightly shaking. "Henry... can we talk for a second?"

His bond grunted. "You can tell me tomorrow of whatever incredible curiosity you have discovered. I'm really tired."

But Thanatos shook his head, frustratedly. "I do not mean that. I mean...", he hesitated, "... did something happen, after the battle in the jungle?"

"What should have happened?" Henry was avoiding his question clearly, and Thanatos realized he was even avoiding his gaze.

He clenched his jaw, trying to control the desperation rising in him now. Henry had always been the one talking of honesty, and yet he was very clearly hiding something now.

He could not be alone anymore, Thanatos realized, and it frightened him to find he was this dependent on the boy already. He had survived without company for seven years, and here he was now, almost suffering a breakdown from being threatened to lose this kid, that had unexpectedly ended his loneliness, so many months ago.

He knew he couldn't go back to that almost vegetative state he had existed in before Henry – nothing left to live for, yet no reason to die. Because now he had something to live for, and that was Henry. Thanatos almost chuckled when he realized how the tides had turned for them – it had always been Henry needing Thanatos before, and now suddenly, it was him who needed Henry.

All he had ever wanted was to help the boy defeat his own inner demons and grow into the man he had meant to become all along. Life had been unkind to him, and he had made many mistakes, but Thanatos was certain he still had a shot at life.

The flier had long accepted he himself was a goner – he had been ever since he had gone into exile. He was convinced he deserved no second chance, he thought he would spend the last of his life pining away alone in the Dead Land, and then Henry had come. He had given him hope, for the first time in forever, and a purpose.

Thanatos was firmly convinced his last task in life was to enable Henry to grow, and by this point, he had become so dependent on it he realized he could not exist without it anymore.

Screw it, he thought, lying down beside his bond, firmly shutting his eyes. Whatever grudge Henry was bearing against him, it could surely not be so bad he would refuse to sleep close to him. _Our life and death are one, we two_ – Thanatos found he repeated the lines from the bonding ritual in his head. We are one... we are one... we should... be one... yet... as much as it pained him to admit this, they were not anymore. The invisible wall between them was high, and Henry had locked himself up behind it, refusing to let Thanatos in.

Now, he felt the boy inch away from him a little, which hurt more than anything he had said or implied so far, over the course of their most recent estrangement.

Oh how much he wished his words to Hamnet would have been true – wasn't this exactly why he didn't want to get attached anymore? Because everyone he had ever gotten attached to had been ripped from him, by outer forces or by their own will – like Henry now.

Thanatos barely slept that night, he could not stop his thoughts from racing. The more he thought about it, the more he blamed himself for everything. Had it been a mistake to bond to Henry? Had it been too early perhaps? Or had it not meant to be at all?

The thought hurt beyond belief. If he would just tell him what he had done wrong he could fix it, he could try his best at least. Thanatos realized Henry's apathy now meant the flier had failed at being his friend... his bond... his brother.

And if there wasn't Henry to live for anymore... what was there left?

"You... you mean the cave system down there is actually... covered in ice?" The excited glimmer in Henry's eyes, the next morning, when Thanatos told him about the discovery he had made on one of his many expeditions into unknown territories, returned a little hope to the flier.

Maybe he was reading too much into all of this after all. Maybe a good-old adventure like in the past was exactly what they needed, after all. Maybe it would fix all of this... what Thanatos thought was broken between them. What could he truly do though, except hope?

"It is... and that's not even all. I was crossing down there and I stumbled upon a most intriguing... rock? I believe it's a rock, though I've never seen one like that. It shone pitch black and sounded like metal... and it was frozen solid in that cave."

Henry was visibly excited now. Kismet, who had listened to them, spoke up suddenly. "I have seen something like that before, I think. Long ago, Ripred and I discovered one here, in the Firelands. Back then he claimed it had fallen from the sky many centuries ago – I believe he called it a... "meteorite"."

"Mete...orite?" Henry pronounced the strange word, "A rock from the sky, you say? Thanatos, we need to get it! Think of the size of Teslas' eyes when we present it to him!"

Thanatos smiled, trying to chase the gloomy thoughts from last night away. This would be fun – they would go get the rock and then bring it to Teslas. Like... like old times.

"What are we waiting for then?" He called, expecting Henry to mount up. The boy had packed his things earlier and was now standing before Kismet.

She grinned – "Feel free to come by if you ever feel like learning something again."

What a change, Thanatos thought – she had gone from threatening to kill them if they did not leave to telling him he was always welcome. To his – and more even her – surprise, Henry wrapped his arms around her in a spontaneous hug. Kismet was so startled she forgot to complain, and once she had regained her senses he had already let go.

"Run like the river, Kismet!" Henry cried after Thanatos had already lifted off, with the boy on his back.

"If you ever do that again YOU WILL LOSE MORE THAN JUST YOUR EYE!", was the last they heard of her before she faded out of view and Henry chuckled. "Oh, we'll see about that."


	11. Lost

They had flown for about an hour when Henry noticed the temperature had lowered for the first time. Thanatos had taken a tunnel that led deeper, in approximate direction to the waterway.

The exiled prince realized they must have descended several miles at this point. "Is this ice cave under the waterway or what?" The last time he had seen a map of this area had been quite a while ago, but he thought he remembered the Firelands north of the waterway, and they had flown south so far.

Thanatos nodded. "Yes, I believe so. I was exploring possible new routes to the jungle from here when I stumbled upon this descent. It led further down than even I had ever traveled, and eventually ended in... how did you call it? The ice caves? Sounds like an appropriate name."

Henry's own excitement grew. He was glad he brought his coat, as it grew colder the further down they descended. Never before had he heard of people traveling the area underneath the waterway – maybe the humans had been there before, but if they had, nobody had ever told Henry about it.

It was weird being out again, he realized, after three months with Kismet. Not that he minded, quite the opposite – an adventure sounded like fun, and whatever this rock was that Thanatos had discovered, Henry could already tell Teslas would adore it, as he did all unique materials.

His excitement was only dimmed by the fact that he still felt uneasy in Thanatos' presence. There were moments when he wished to shout everything out, and others where he wanted to forget he ever heard anything.

All the exiled prince truly wanted was for everything to get back to the way it used to be, but somehow that seemed impossible. He clearly felt the natural connection, they had always had, was chipped – almost worse than in the first month after they had met. Yes, they had spent their days arguing back then, but Henry felt like he would almost prefer an argument over the silence between them now.

The thought it might never return to how it used to be between them scared Henry beyond belief. He was afraid to lose the closest friend he had – and the second bond – and yet his brain told him it might be unavoidable at this point.

Henry frustratedly clenched his jaw and pulled the coat tighter around himself, realizing it had gotten colder than anything he'd ever experienced. Usually, the temperature in the Underland was nice and constant, there was only the hot jungle that went against the norm, and apparently this place now.

Henry lit a torch to see if their surroundings had changed, and when the light finally illuminated their path, he realized he could see his breath. The walls around them were still solid rock, but they looked smoother than normal stone, and Henry saw the outskirts of something white and sparkling on their edges.

He finally pulled out his second coat, and even when he wore them over each other, Henry still felt the chill seep through. The fire from the torch was pleasantly warm, so he decided to let it burn, even if he could almost effortlessly orientate himself in the dark without it now.

Thanatos descended down the same tunnel for about another hour, and together with the tunnel, the temperature continued to drop. When the flier finally exited the descent, flew out into a spacious cave, and Henry held the torch higher, his eye widened in disbelief. The walls were at this point no longer visible – they were entirely covered in a smooth, white substance, that glistened in the torchlight.

Henry had never seen ice before, he knew it existed from books and stories, people had told him it consisted of water that had been exposed to extremely low temperatures, but never in his wildest dreams, he had thought it would be this... pretty.

"It's... gorgeous!", he called, holding the torch as high as he could, to see the light reflected in the walls.

Thanatos chuckled. "I know. Further down, there aren't even stone walls anymore, it's all ice."

They decided to take a quick break in the cave to eat and Henry pulled out every single clothing item he owned and put it on. It helped a little, wearing a total of three shirts and two coats over each other, but his hands and face were still freezing. He thought he might work on his wardrobe a little if they found they would need to come down here more than once. And just in general – if his life as an outcast had taught him anything, then that it never hurt to be prepared for everything.

About half an hour later Thanatos continued his flight, this time they traversed a much more narrow tunnel, and when Henry held the torch closer to the wall, he saw the flier had spoken the truth – underneath the glistening, smooth ice, he saw no stone anymore.

Thanatos claimed they were almost at the... whatever Kismet had called it. Skyrock – maybe that was a fitting name for it, Henry thought, amused. A rock that fell from the sky... he wondered why it had fallen and when. Maybe Teslas or one of the nibblers who specialized in geology would be able to tell him.

Another half an hour later Thanatos switched into a side tunnel and followed a winding path even further down. Henry found it fascinating to think that they were now most likely miles below the waterway, which in itself was, at its lowest point, several miles deep.

He realized they had not just flown south though, but southwest. To the west of the Firelands were the human settlements, he thought and found it curious they were this close to Regalia and yet he had not even known of the existence of this place.

About ten minutes down the smaller tunnel Thanatos finally landed, in what was a smaller cave with three exits, including the way they had come from. "The path on the left is a dead-end, in it lies the stone."

Henry decided to walk the last part on foot, and Thanatos flew ahead. He walked for around a minute before his torchlight finally illuminated what the flier had brought him here for – and his eye widened in awe.

Almost entirely enclosed in ice, like wedged into the floor, was a stone. It was completely isolated, and when Henry looked closer, he saw the floor was a little lower around it as if to remind of a long-faded impact.

He drew closer and when he held the torch over it, he realized it was not stone – the substance was pitch black, but shiny like metal. When he reached down to touch it, Henry jerked back from how cold it was. But yes, the surface was smooth and looked like a ball of unrefined, black metal.

"This is... fantastic!" He exclaimed, kneeling down to free the substance from the ice. It was more than he had originally thought, Henry estimated it was maybe eight or nine inches in diameter. He broke the ice around it with Mys and finally heaved the metal ball out.

To his surprise, Henry found it was much lighter than it looked. He immediately stored it at the bottom of his backpack, after he had finished his work, he could almost not feel his hands from the cold. "I should really get some gloves at some point", he pondered, looking at his hands, that were only partially wrapped in bandages to prevent injuries when climbing or lifting rocks.

"Maybe you should", Thanatos sounded. Henry realized he had been lying down while he had waited, and was now shivering from the cold.

They returned to the cave with the three exits again, and suddenly, Thanatos spoke up – "Hey, do we really need to bring this thing to Teslas right away? I mean, we could just as well... go and explore a little more, don't you think?"

Henry turned around, surprised. "And carry it with us the entire time? I mean it's lighter than it looks, but still. And besides, I am slowly but surely freezing to death in here", he rubbed his hands together and stomped a few times. "We can come back when I have more cold-proof clothes."

Thanatos scoffed. "And what do you intend to do instead?"

Henry pondered. He had not really given it much thought yet. "Oh... I don't know... maybe stay with the nibblers for a few weeks again. I need to catch up with Teslas a little, there is something I need his opinion on. And there is this... Skyrock. I'm really curious as to what he'll turn it into, and what it even is."

"What exactly do you need HIS opinion on?" Henry turned around when he heard the dismissive tone in Thanatos' voice. "You could try asking me as well, you know? Or is that your new thing now – not telling me what is going on anymore?"

Henry furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?" He knew the flier must have caught onto the internal conflict within the exiled prince, and he wanted nothing more than for him to just drop it. "Let's... let's just get out of here, I'm freezing."

But when he attempted to mount up, the flier suddenly almost threateningly blocked his path, wedging his claws firmly into the ice on the floor. Henry stopped so abruptly he almost fell over on the slippery surface. "What... what are you doing?"

"Henry, you can and will not continue to treat me like I am blind and deaf, do you really think I did not notice you are... avoiding me? "Let's just go", "I'm tired", "maybe later"... do you really think I am THAT stupid? I want to know what is going on, I believe I have the right."

Henry froze in place. His thoughts reeled, his head started spinning. "The right? Why would you have the RIGHT?"

Something in Thanatos', up until now angry, amber gaze darkened. "I... we... we are bonds, are we not...? Isn't that the whole deal? Telling... telling each other everything... our problems and worries... and supporting them?"

Telling each other everything... something inside Henry started boiling, his throat lumped. "YOU do not have the right to talk about "telling each other everything"... you out of everyone! Accusing me of keeping secrets, while you have never truly trusted me in the first place, have you now?"

Thanatos narrowed his eyes, his voice trembling with rage. The flier felt the words slip from his mouth almost accidentally – "Because trusting you always ended so well for everyone who ever did it!"

Henry froze in place. Mys slipped out of his icy hand and he stared at the flier, his single eye round with shock and hurt. "You...", he almost didn't recognize his own voice – "is... is that why you... is that the reason? The reason you always refused to let me in completely, because you had doubts whether I...", he gulped, trying to free his throat from the clog of tears that had formed in it, "... could be TRUSTED?!" He screamed the last part, forcefully trying to stop himself from starting to cry.

Thanatos' expression looked almost puzzled like he wasn't entirely aware of what he had just said. "W... what? What are you even talking about – me not letting you in... it is you who is keeping secrets, ever since that battle against the cutters in the jungle... you seem to be happy about every opportunity to get away from me!"

"That is NOT TRUE!" Henry screamed, painfully aware it was true. "You... you always avoided telling me anything about yourself! How much do I really know you, hm? Truth is, I DO NOT, AT ALL! I might just as well be bonded to a stranger!"

He was seeing red with anger now. How dared the flier accusing him of dishonesty, when in truth he had started everything.

"Oh no, wait – I know why – why you never let me in, why you avoided my questions – liked the feeling, by the way? Because the way you felt the last month, I did before that. But what matters is, you have a reason – you never gave a SHIT ABOUT ME! All you ever wanted was to keep your disgustingly clear conscience – goodness help me if I died on you and turned into a stain to sully it."

Thanatos stared at him, wide-eyed. "How... wh... where...?" Before he could ask where Henry had that from, the exiled prince interrupted him – "How I found out? You said it yourself, for goodness sake! Along the lines of "I would not weep if he died" and "I only bonded to him because I had no other choice to save his life". You know what – maybe you SHOULD have let me die, at least you'd have me to remind you of your failure, then!"

Thanatos stared at the boy, trying to process what he was saying. "Have... did you eavesdrop on me?!" He finally asked, thinking he finally understood the root of the problems they had had during recent times.

"I am glad I did – at least I now know what you truly think of me! It only undermines my claim that a bond is worth nothing, especially if it is built on dishonesty!"

Henry's words hurt, more than Thanatos would have ever admitted. I did not mean it... he wanted to scream at the boy, but how was he supposed to convince him to believe his words now? Once a liar, always a liar, it sounded in his head and he realized he was on the brink of crying.

"It was a mistake, you say –", the flier's voice was muffled, "to bond? I'm inclined to agree, you know?"

"Oh great, at least you do me the favor of not denying it anymore!" Henry called, "Well, good to know you at least had Hamnet to talk to, about all the things you, of course, couldn't TRUST me with, because I am oh-so UNTRUSTWORTHY. You know, you should have joined HIM when he asked you to, maybe then you would have never been in the rat's land, that day, and I would have died from that fall, which is still a better fate then this!"

Anger started to rise in Thanatos. Was that really all the faith Henry had in him? Was he truly so fast to believe all of what he heard? "Well, at least Hamnet understood me, you know? He listened and he sympathized, while all you care about is your own damn hide!"

"Well GO AHEAD AND CRY FOR HIM THEN – cry about having made the wrong decision!" The flier saw Henry was on the brink of crying himself.

Thanatos knew the argument was getting out of hand, and that he would soon say even more hurtful things, but his rage and frustration consumed him at that moment, it overpowered his logic – "You know what, maybe I DID make a mistake. Maybe –"

"Maybe you should also keep attention to who hears your screams, hm?" The voice hadn't been Henry's and for a second Thanatos froze in shock. His and Henry's heads jolted around at the same time, only to realize they were surrounded.

"What are the rats doing down here...?" Henry mumbled, still dazed from the argument. They were standing in every single entrance now, blocking the way. Some grinning mockingly, others with bared teeth.

"We need to get out of here...", he heard Thanatos whisper. Henry wished he could say he was fine on his own but reluctantly picked up Mys, mounted up and drew his sword. He decided to not use his ignifer, as he feared what the fire might do in a cave made of ice.

The rats now seeped into the cave, they were around a dozen, and Thanatos aimed at the entrance that had the least rats in them – the third one. Henry sliced at those that leaped towards them and Thanatos broke their defense line. He headed down, further into the icy caves.

"Where are you going? This is not the way out!" Henry screamed, while he still heard the rats on their tails.

"Well, how about you fly next time, hm? There were much less of them in this tunnel than in the other." Thanatos scoffed and followed a turn the tunnel made. Suddenly they flew out into a bigger cave, and even if Henry had packed his torch away already, the sounds spoke for themselves.

"What in the world are they..." He started, perceiving many rats – perhaps even hundreds – in here. They all seemed to... to what? What were they... Henry only envisioned them doing something with a part of the wall. The noise was permeating and loud, it was the sound of hundreds of rats clawing away at the ice.

He had no time to ask himself what their goal was when a screech suddenly pierced his eardrums – "GEEEEET THEEEEEM!" The voice was so distorted and loud that Henry almost lost his focus and overlooked the claw the rat, that had screamed, flung at him.

In the last second, he dodged, urging Thanatos to get out of the cave. But it was almost as if the flier did not even hear what he was saying. Instead, he hovered in place, above the rat that had just attacked, like he could not believe what he was seeing.

"THANATOS COME ON!" Henry screamed, but the flier ignored him. "It can't be...", Henry thought he heard him mumble, when he saw the rat, probably the leader of whatever operation they were conducting down here, order some of the others to attack the flier.

"It can't be!", his voice was mocking as he imitated Thanatos, "I have news for you – Skullface – it CAN be! The only thing that surprises me is that you have not drowned yourself in the waterway yet, after what happened to that girl..."

Henry envisioned him clearly now – he could not see color through echolocation, but he saw that the rat was huge and had a long scar over his chest. "Who...?" But before he could ask Thanatos who that was, he turned to some of his followers, screaming "BREAK THE DAM – BREAK IT NOW!"

The other rats hesitated, "but Longclaw, won't we as well –", their leader, Longclaw, apparently, screamed even louder – "BREAK THE DAMN THING, THEY NEED TO DIEEEEEEEE!"

Panic overcame Henry, what dam were they talking about? "We need to leave!" He urged again, and this time, Thanatos reacted. They dodged a few leaping gnawers, some of which Henry reached with his sword. The attackers seemed to shrink in numbers, and at first, the exiled prince thought they were winning, but then he realized the rats were swarming the wall they had scratched at before, instead of attacking.

Then, a new sound threw Henry off. A deep, loud crack sounded, soon followed by a second and a third one. "IT'S BREAKING!" He heard the high-pitched screech of a rat before he realized what was going on.

Panic overcame him when he saw behind the wall they had tried to break was water. A long crack now split the ice and soon grew, making the terrifying sound again. "Thanatos we –", but before he could finish the sentence, his voice was drowned in the panicked screams of rats – and the deafening crack of the solid ice. Then, the wall broke.

Thanatos attempted to escape the swell of water that took the cave with enormous force, by flying close to the ceiling, but the water was so powerful it filled up the entire cave soon. Henry was engulfed in the icy flood, he barely held onto Thanatos' neck as they were swept away like paper boats in a stream.

They were thrown all around and Henry had no idea how long he spent, helplessly clinging to Thanatos. Only when he realized the water wasn't all around them anymore, he dared to open his eye.

Were they out of the ice caves? Henry didn't recognize their surroundings, all he saw was that they were in stone tunnels again. He was still clinging to Thanatos' neck as they were carried along by a river now.

Henry was desperately coughing, trying to regurgitate all the water he had swallowed. He felt Thanatos tremble, and realized he was shaking himself. He meekly tried to paddle and get them closer to the borders of the river, when he realized there was no shore. The river was as wide as the tunnel, and when the ceiling lowered Henry hit his head on a ledge that reached into the water.

The exiled prince saw stars for a second, which was why he didn't take notice of the rushing sound, that was getting louder and louder now.

"HENRY!" Thanatos' scream brought him back to reality, and when he heard the sound at last and saw what they were drifting towards, it was already almost too late.

"WATERFALL –"

Henry heard Thanatos' desperate cry and closed his eye, when they reached the waterfall, preparing to plummet down into nothingness. But it never happened – instead, he suddenly felt his lungs being forcefully emptied of air as his upper body collided with something.

Henry desperately clung to the rock that had saved him, it reached up to the surface, right where the floor gave way to a black abyss that swallowed the river – and had nearly swallowed them.

But Thanatos – he felt his grip on the flier's neck weakening until the wet fur slipped through his fingers and a swell of panic numbed his senses when he thought Thanatos was lost. Then he felt something cling to his hand – the flier had gripped it with his claw.

Henry felt Thanatos' talons dig into his hand, but he held on firmly. The water was still rushing against him, and Henry feared he might lose grip on the stone he was clinging to. Thanatos was heavy and the exiled prince did not know if he had the strength to pull him back up.

In the faint glow of the water around them, he looked at Thanatos – his wings were pulled on and one bled heavily, as did a cut on his lower body. Henry gritted his teeth from the pain in his hand, the one that the flier held on to. He realized blood was now seeping out of the cuts from where Thanatos' claws bruised his skin.

Then, the flier spoke, and his words pierced Henry like icicles – "Let... me fall..."

Henry held on, unable to react. Thanatos continued – "You... planned to do that anyway, did you not? You would have left me if the rats hadn't attacked." Even now, Henry heard the pain and the anger in the flier's voice, "Well, here's your chance now... if you let me go, you will never see me again... doesn't that sound great?"

A tear escaped Henry's eye against his will, he angrily squinted. "None of this would have happened if you'd just trusted me!" His voice was muffled with uncried tears.

"Then why are you still holding on?" The flier called, and for a second, Henry considered his words. "You know what, you're right! Maybe I should just –"

That very same moment, something hit Henry from behind. A piece of debris maybe, or a rock, he wouldn't have been able to tell what it was in retrospect. An angry pain jolted through his right shoulder and arm – and his hand opened.

Like in slow motion, he stared at his own hand in shock, as it released the grip on Thanatos' claw. The last Henry saw of him was the unbelieving, panicked look in his eyes, as he realized his bond had let go.

A scream escaped Henry's throat as he leaned forward, desperately trying to grab Thanatos before he would fall – but it was far too late. He watched his flier disappear into the dark abyss, together with the constant flow of water that unheedingly streamed past him, seeking to carry him down the waterfall, after Thanatos.

Henry would have not been able to tell how much time had passed. He had remained in the same position, leaning over the edge of the waterfall, hand extended down. Blood was dripping from it now, but Henry was unable to move at all.

His mind was reeling, unable to process what had just happened. I did not want to let go... he repeated in his head, over and over. I did not... did I... let go?

Henry wanted to vomit, to scream, to throw himself down the waterfall and let the abyss consume him, but all he did was remain frozen in place. I let him go – that was the last thing his brain was able to process before he felt something hit him again. Another piece of debris, a bigger one this time, was flung against his head by the streaming water, and after it hit, Henry saw and thought nothing anymore.

The last thing he witnessed, was his own grip on the rock releasing, and then the sensation of falling... into nothing.


	12. Astray

The first thing Henry noticed was something nudging him in the side. "Hmm... five more minutes, okay?", he mumbled. The nudging didn't stop, "Death, come on, just let me –"

Then, something else nudged him in the other side. Frustrated, Henry flung his eye open, "Death, I swear –"

Henry winced back in shock. Before him was not Thanatos' face – instead, at him stared two black, pearly eyes on stakes. The creature slowly extended a feeler to touch his face, and he felt something poking his side again. When he slowly turned his head, he saw a huge, distinct claw nudging him.

The creature sitting on top of Henry was fiery red and about six feet long. It had a second claw, like the one it had poked him with and was curiously staring at him now.

It's a pincher, Henry realized and tried not to make any sudden movements. He did not know how hostile the pinchers usually were, in fact, he had never met one before. But when he slowly inched backward, he felt something in his back.

A second face, very similar to the one that was still hovering above him, stared down at him and Henry realized the giant lobster wasn't alone.

"Are you alright?" He would not have been able to tell which one of the two had spoken, but the voice sounded somewhat distorted and was very low-pitched, yet he was able to understand it.

"Eh... I'm fine... I..." Henry tried hard to remember how he had ended up here. Where... even was... "here"? He slowly raised his throbbing head and looked around. He was lying next to a huge lake, a waterfall streamed into it from somewhere above this cave. The lake glowed... orange.

The realization, where he was, hit Henry like a tidal wave. This was the lake Kismet had always taken him to when they wanted to fish! This was where he had first caught fish without his eyes, this... of course, she had warned him the territory of the pinchers was close by.

Henry eyed the two that had... what had they done? "Uhm... where... how did I get here? Did you... pull me out of the water?" Henry asked when he realized he was soaking.

The second lobster now swayed his head. "You came down the waterfall. You were sleeping... we pulled you out. Water is dangerous when you are sleeping..."

Henry's head started to spin. The water... the waterfall! Wait... THIS waterfall? Suddenly, images tore through the mist that clouded his memories like the cuts of a knife.

A river... he was holding... he was holding on to... Henry looked down at his right hand. It was sticky with dried blood, angry red gashes covered it, some of which were still seeping blood.

Thanatos.

The name hit him like a bucket of cold water, reanimating his limp body – he jolted up. "THANATOS!" Henry screamed. The pinchers winced back from the noise, but Henry didn't care.

Surely, he was here somewhere. If Henry had survived the waterfall, there was no way the flier hadn't. "Hey, did you see a flier here before me?", he asked one of the pinchers.

"Flier was here. We saw." The lobster answered, and new hope started rising in Henry.

"Flier left", the other pincher sounded, and Henry froze in place instantly. "Wait... what?"

"Flier left", the other repeated. "Wanted out, wanted to look for a way out. We said he was too hurt. He did not listen. He wanted out."

Henry felt his legs give way and he collapsed on the floor again. His head was spinning, from the concussion and all the swarming thoughts that now clogged it. He had wanted out... to leave. Leave...

Thanatos' words suddenly rang in his head, he remembered how he had tried to hold him, and the flier urging him to let go - _If you let me go, you will never see me again... doesn't that sound great?_

Never... never see him again... It took Henry a second to process the meaning of the sentence, but then the terrible realization engulfed him and for a second, he saw stars again.

Henry suddenly started gagging. He crawled closer to the lake and threw up at last. Over and over, he gradually emptied his stomach of all the water he had swallowed. When nothing came up anymore, he remained in place, head hanging over the ledge that led to the water.

He was gone, Henry thought, he was... gone. I let him go... I let go, he thought I let go on purpose... The fear and... yes, disappointment, in Thanatos' eyes, the moment he had let go, flashed in Henry's mind. He is gone... he... left.

Henry felt he started gagging again, but nothing came anymore. His stomach was empty and suddenly he felt like someone had placed a ginormous rock on top of him, pressing him to the floor.

Henry couldn't move. All he did was lie still, staring into the water. He wouldn't have been able to tell how much time had passed, even if he would care, it could have been minutes our hours. It was all the same, anyway.

He thought he heard the lobsters say they had to leave after a while, but Henry still didn't move. His mind was swamped with thoughts, self-pity, anger, desperation – too many emotions to count.

Most prominent of all was his own disgust with himself. Had he just held on, he thought... had he tried harder... had he talked things out with Thanatos sooner... had he not screamed... had he not... had he not lost his second bond for the same reason he had lost his first one.

Henry was pressing his face into the stone floor. At first, he did not realize that tears were streaming down his cheeks – as soon as he noticed, he felt his body shake from the sobs.

Never before, not shortly after the fall, not when the spinners had abducted Thanatos – not ever had he wanted so much to just throw himself into the lake here and now, and end his sorry, pathetic life, like in this very moment.

The screaming in his head wouldn't stop though, it never stopped, it threatened to overpower him. Henry realized he was digging his nails into the back of his hand. He passively watched them pierce his skin until he saw blood. He did not even feel the pain... he felt nothing.

What had... even happened? His mind was foggy, the memories buried beneath the pain. The... argument. He had... he had blamed Thanatos for not being honest with him, and yet he had not been honest himself. Had he just brought it up immediately, he thought, had he talked about what he heard, he would maybe have the answers to his questions now, instead of... What was there even left? Without Thanatos... what was there left...?

Henry would have given everything – all his skills, all his fancy gadgets, and weapons, for a way to turn back time. But... would that even have prevented anything?

An even worse realization now overcame him – it wasn't just that he had lost his second bond because of his own lack in honesty as well, no – Thanatos' words that he had said to Hamnet, rang in his ears. All of it... had been true. Before, there had always been a rest of hope in him remaining, believing Thanatos hadn't truly meant it. But now... the doubts were gone. It was all way too clear now.

He never... cared for Henry... never even... never... bonded to him because he cared for or trusted him. He did it to save his own conscience, nothing more. And now that he found out... now he didn't even pity him anymore. He left him here to die... left him here...

In that case... even if he could find a way to travel back in time, to change his words and actions... It would still not change... anything. Henry felt his body tremble from crying. Had he truly lost his second bond today... or did he never even have one?

He squinted his eye and in a fit of anger at himself, at Thanatos, at everything – slammed his head against the stone floor. The pain from the impact was misted by the pain inside his head. Frustratedly, he did the same thing again, this time he blacked out for a second, seeing stars. Henry wanted to do it again and again, until he would not regain consciousness at all, but he lacked the strength.

He knew he deserved it – the pain that filled him now, the frustration, the anger, the panic – he deserved it all. For letting it get this far, for not learning from his own stupid mistakes, for actually believing Thanatos... anyone... could still... care about him. For being the pathetic, worthless traitor that had gotten what he deserved at last.

Henry had no idea how long he remained lying at the lake, several hours maybe. He had no intention of getting back up. Never again. He was not determined enough to drown himself in the lake, neither to get up. He would simply lie here until he died from blood loss, thirst or some creature, looking for an easy snack. He had no preference. All he knew was that this was it – the universe had fought and finally took the last ounce of life from his body. There was nothing left.

His eyes were closed. Henry was focused on not succumbing to the maelstrom of burning thoughts in his mind, that's why he hadn't noticed anything before he suddenly felt something grab his arm, yank him up and throw him over the shoulder.

He was too weak to even open his eye and see who it was. The last thing he remembered was his face pressing into fur now... fur that was... light grey...

When Henry opened his eye, at last, he wanted to immediately close it again. This time, the black oblivion of unconsciousness did not erase his memories, instead, they swarmed him immediately after he awoke.

He slowly turned his face, recognizing where he was, and for a second a wave of relief engulfed him, he thought it had all been a dream. Thanatos arriving, them going to the ice caves, the rats, the river, the... Then his gaze met his left hand. He saw the marks of fingernails... his own nails, and the relief was washed away by desperation immediately.

"So, what was it that left you with no strength to get back up on your feet?" The voice that now spoke from the shade sounded familiar, and Henry tilted his head. Kismet sat in a corner of her own cave, staring at him with somewhat knowing eyes.

He had no strength to speak. But even if he had, Henry wouldn't know how to express any of his emotions in words. Kismet apparently guessed she wouldn't get a response out of him any time soon. Instead, she stood up, fetched his own water sack, and tossed it his way. "Drink."

"You should... have let me... die..." His voice was so weak and hoarse, Henry almost didn't recognize it.

Kismet snorted. "And have all the hard work and time I poured into you go to waste? Forget about it. And now drink, before I stuff the entire water sack down your throat."

It took Henry almost an hour to find the strength to lift his hand and drink, and several more to finally rise up and eat the fish Kismet had caught for him. He looked around while chewing on the food, and noticed his bag and his weapons in the corner of the cave. She must have fished them out of the lake before she had brought him here.

"You know, I would ask what happened, but I don't think you'd give me an answer anyway, so I won't." Her words were a great relief. She was right... Henry would not have been able to talk about any of it, not even if he wanted to.

Kismet watched him, the blank expression in his eyes, the stains of tears, dirt and blood on his face, the claw marks on his right hand, the ones from his own nails on his left. "Seems like life brought you to your knees after all", she suddenly spoke. "Sooner than I expected, to be honest."

Henry stared at her, confused, for a moment, before he remembered her words from one of their first encounters.

_I may not know what you've been through so far but had life really brought you to your knees already, I would see it._ Her words rang in his ears, and he threw her a glance, from the corner of his eye. "It did."

"Henry, I have a job for you." The exiled prince turned his head. "What kind?"

Almost a week had passed since he had awoken by the lake, and for the lack of better options, Henry had moved in with Kismet again. Also because he was grateful for her company – she asked no questions and always found something to occupy his mind with, before it strayed too far back.

After he had finally found the strength to think again, about a day after she had rescued him, Henry had revived his rules, from all the way back, shortly after the fall. The ones about not thinking of the past and the future.

There was no past – if there was no past, it could not hurt him. He had forbidden himself every thought of what had happened over the course of the last... what was it now? Ten, eleven months?

Henry thought not of the future either. There was no future. Not anymore. There was just... waking up, getting through the day, and going back to sleep, harboring the slim hope he might never wake up at all.

He found he was in this almost weird state now, where he had nothing left to live for... and yet no apparent reason or motivation to die either. All the thought of his own death made him feel like, was... indifferent.

Yet, Kismet was the one who gave him a reason to get up every day. She always had some sort of task or exercise... or challenge. And somehow, she even found the correct words to motivate him.

"Oh, this is a fun one." She snarled, poking her head into the cave he was sitting in.

Henry suppressed a chuckle. Fun. He did not remember the last time he had had fun. He had wiped it from his memory, after all. All he had felt, ever since he had regained the strength to feel, was emptiness.

Shortly after he had grown strong enough, Kismet had tried to occupy him with battle training, like before. She had hoped it would wake his spirits, and while Henry had agreed to it, it... had not felt the same anymore. Nothing did.

The things he used to do for fun, like climbing, fighting or running the parkour could not break through this new numbness that had taken over. Not even practicing his new echolocation skills or more mercenary jobs could. He had taken one a few days ago, just to try if it would be different, but it wasn't. It had been disappointingly easy, with his new skills, that was all. It's not like Henry minded, though. If he was to feel like this for the rest of his days, so be it. There were worse fates than this.

He stared at Mys, at the handle – the bit of black tissue that was still wrapped around it, and immediately almost slapped himself. The past is the past... the past is the... "Are you coming or not?" Almost apathetic, Henry packed away the dagger and stepped out of the cave, joining her.

To his surprise, he saw she wasn't alone. Two crawlers stood not far away, their antennas shaking with probably fear. Henry remembered how reluctant they had been to let him come here in the first place, and asked himself what could have possibly driven them to do it themselves now.

"Well, actually, it's these two that have the job offer", she grinned. "Go, talk to them, before they faint from fear."

Usually, Henry would have joined her in making fun of the crawlers, but he did not feel like it anymore. He simply gazed at them, raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

"The Wielder of Light and Rider of Death has to help us, has to." One of them finally spoke, and a spear pierced Henry's heart at the name.

"It is JUST Wielder of Light if you don't mind", he hissed, and the crawlers winced back, exchanging glances.

"Oh, leave them alone, they are trembling already, after all." Kismet's voice was friendly for once, and Henry sighed. "Okay, so... what exactly is the job now?"

Henry walked along the tunnel the crawlers had pointed him to. This job was one he would have relished a few months ago, now it was... like any other task. What was the difference, how he spent his time, after all? Be it hunting for Firebeetles in the caves or rescuing a bunch of crawler prisoners from one of the gnawer-arenas?

They had promised him goods for saving some of their own, the rats had apparently captured to have killed in the arena, but in all honesty, Henry didn't care about the reward anymore. What good would some fuel, crops, and medicine do him, in Kismet's cave? He knew how to see in the dark now, the Firebeetles were just fine for food, and medicine... medicine was for people who were afraid of death. He was not... not anymore.

No, he was doing this because it was something to do. It was something to... focus his mind on, to keep his thoughts from wandering. No past... he repeated again. No past... just the moment. And the moment is – free some captured crawlers from a rat arena.

He had not even realized there was more than one, but apparently, there was one here. According to the crawlers, there was a flock of rats, led by another former general of Gorger, that had used the ice caves to travel here and settle down, close to the citadel, a few months ago. The plague had not reached them, like it had the rest of their species, and they were apparently not too worried for the rest of their people. Instead, they spent their time here, vandalizing, holding their games and pestering the crawlers – now that the cutters were out of the picture.

Henry stared down into the ginormous pit. He was high up now, most likely around two hundred feet above what was obviously the arena. To get down, he would need to free-climb the distance, which was nothing he minded though. This one was not in an enclosed cave, rather in a huge cavern, Henry estimated around five hundred feet high, and about as wide too.

The arena itself was located at the bottom of a big pit in the middle of the cave. He saw rats there, squatting around the middle, like they had, all this time ago, when he and –

Henry squinted his eye. He had almost thought the name he had forbidden himself to spare a single thought to. He had almost broken his own rule again. No past... there was no... The cheering of the crowd echoed in his ears, the present one and... the scarred body of Sizzleblood... she had looked so much like Kismet, and then... the stone to the head... and... alone.

He had left him alone. Knives cut through the numbness that enveloped Henry's heart. Cleaver and the others, the cliff... the Prince of Rats.

Henry wanted to scream. Scream to get the pain out, scream to punish himself... to... He realized he was digging his nails into his own skin again. Kismet's voice sounded in his head... Hurting yourself will not make it any better. It will make it worse, actually.

But the thing was... it did make it... durable. This time, Henry managed to stop before it started actually bleeding. His nails had left four angry red marks, and Henry realized he was clenching his jaw. Not again.

Focus – he screamed at himself inside his head. He was here not to dwell on forgotten memories, but for a job. And that was exactly what he would do now.

It had not been hard to locate the prison. It was nearby, which made sense since the prisoners were often needed in the arena. He had used his fur soles to sneak past the pit and around half an hour later found the hole with the crawlers.

There were no guards, as the rats were apparently confident enough to think their prisoners would not escape anyway. Besides, they probably thought if these ones escaped, they could easily catch more.

He tied a rope he brought to a stalactite – for a short second an image flashed in his head, him using his own belt to do the same thing, a cave with a dozen rats in them, a ledge at the top... an execution – but he angrily chased it off.

Instead, he descended down into the hole. The crawlers were huddled together, shaking in fear of the stranger, Henry realized he must look terrifying to them, his clothes from rat fur, his eyepatch, and the weapons – but he quickly reassured them he had been paid to rescue them.

When the crawlers had all finally climbed up the rope out of the hole, and Henry had followed, they exchanged a "thank you, we will remember you always, remember you" with him, before disappearing into a nearby tunnel. Henry assumed they knew their way home.

He sighed, almost disappointed this job had gone so well too. What would he occupy himself with for the rest of the day now? Or should he just go to bed?

Then, suddenly, something touched his shoulder. Henry jolted around, drawing his sword, but he instantly saw it was too many.

"Looks like someone thinks he can get away with rescuing our prisoners", one of the rats snarled, and Henry raised his sword. No fear or panic engulfed him, if he would die today, so be it.

"Then come at me", his voice was cold, as were his eyes, most likely. Upon noticing that, the two rats that stood closest to him exchanged glances. Suddenly, someone shoved them aside. The rat that emerged was taller than the rest, almost seven feet, and Henry thought he seemed familiar for some reason. Then he noticed the huge, jagged scar across his chest.

Longclaw?

"Someone is without fear, I see", his voice was much calmer now, then it had been in the ice caves. "I am not afraid of death", Henry answered.

"You are not? Hmm..." He exchanged a few words with one of his followers. Henry focused his hearing, but could only make out the words "use him".

"Hey, do not talk behind my back about my fate!" He took a step forward. "I am not scared of facing you, neither am I of battling in your arena, if that is what you expect me to do to earn my freedom." Maybe this day would get exciting after all, he thought suddenly.

Longclaw grinned. "Freedom... freedom... well, perhaps... depending on how good you are... you could earn a little more than that."

Henry listened up. "Wait... are you... offering me a... job? Me? A human?"

Longclaw chuckled. "Oh, we have had stranger creatures fight in the arena. And besides, a human champion... that would surely draw the masses in. IF you are good, that is."

"The best", was all Henry said, and for the first time, over the course of this week, he felt like he almost looked forward to something.


	13. The Lone Rider

"Today, fellow gnawers – today will be a glorious day indeed!" Henry heard the voice of Longlaw's announcer, Dustfur, yell to the crowd that had assembled to see him fight. The arena was filled to the last seat, like always in recent times – Longclaw's prediction about a human champion drawing attention had been true.

The exiled prince was standing in a corner of the arena, hidden out of sight, waiting for his name to be announced like it was custom with champions. His jaw was clenched and his stare cold from beyond the mask he had carved out of the shoulder blade of a rat. It covered the entire right half of his face and Henry had only loosely based it on a skull this time, he had focused more on making it look intimidating – it was his face in the arena, after all.

"Over the course of the last three months", Dustfur continued, "he was undefeated, our human champion – today, no other than Threeleg and Crusher, two of Longclaw's finest warriors, seek to claim his throne as reigning champion of this arena. Is it custom to have two fight one? No – it is not!"

Henry heard laughter – "But do we or anyone care? Also no!"

Even more laughter sounded. "And you know who cares least of all – our challenged champion himself! When I asked him if he was ready to take them on together, you know what he told me? He said –", Dustfur paused and Henry smirked, knowing what was coming – "He said – BRING IT!"

The audience roared with approval. It was truly strange how little it had taken to get the rats here to cheer for him. His first victory, the very same day Lonclaw had offered him the job, had sufficed, and they had chanted his name by the end of the day.

Henry was aware it was a little suspicious Gorger's former general had even suggested it, especially this quickly. Either he just had a really sick sense of humor – or he had some sort of different interest in Henry fighting in his arena – or both. But to be perfectly honest, the exiled prince cared little for Longclaw's intentions – as long as he gave him the opportunity to fight.

"The brothers who defeated the cutters at the waterway and the humans in the battle for the great river – Threeleg and Crusher!" Dustfur called the names and Henry heard cheering. He perceived the two rats enter the arena, waving at their comrades.

They were both grey, one lighter, the other darker. Threeleg had, as his name suggested, lost one of his arms in the past, it was nothing but a stump, severed right above the elbow, while Crusher's face was split by a long scar, similar to Ripred's.

"...Against our one and only – undefeated champion for more than forty battles, the Wielder of the Sword of Fire and the Man Who Knows Not Death himself – the LONE RIDER!"

Henry stepped forward, into the light of the braziers that illuminated the arena, and grated his firestone against his sword, as if to undermine Dustfur's description.

Then he raised the flaming sword in the air, voicing a haunting battle cry, that was picked up by the audience immediately. Henry grinned behind the mask – this would be fun.

"You know, one day, you'll get yourself killed in that arena." Kismet's voice sounded almost worried, but Henry shrugged it off. "So what? I mean, who would actually miss me if I died, hm?"

He could envision clearly that she was watching him, from the darkness of the corner of her cave, how he reluctantly bandaged up the wound Crusher's claws had torn in his left shoulder. Fitting the scar Sizzleblood had left in the right one, almost exactly a year ago, he thought.

The two rats had been more of a challenge than most opponents he had fought so far, and yet at the end of the day, he had left just their corpses on the floor of the arena, defending his title successfully once more.

Oh, how right Ripred had been, when he said he would fight like no human ever fought, if he learned from Kismet, Henry thought.

This second level of echolocation made him feel so overpowered at times, that he almost forgot he was not entirely invincible. Together with his eyesight, this new sixth sense was almost like an inbuilt analyzer of his surroundings – distance, force, and speed had turned into measurable numbers in his head, making reacting to attacks efficiently and effectively so much easier than he had ever thought possible. How could any enemy defeat him, after all, if the sound of their steps told Henry what they were about to do before the attack happened?

Henry intuitively touched his injured shoulder, that stung, whenever he moved it too much. He thought about why he was doing this to himself – maybe he had initially agreed to it because he thought it would bring him joy again – but no. All Henry felt while fighting was the all-consuming numbness that engulfed him almost constantly. He found no joy in killing, even now.

Sure, it was nice to have a crowd cheer for him and the arena was exciting and provided something to do – almost like a goal, like something that made striving to become even better worth it again. But was that truly the only reason?

Henry knew it wasn't – and he also knew what was. All this fighting... it was his attempt to rid himself of the numbness, at last. The arena made him feel again, at least to an extent. Feeling... feeling anything, be it pain, had turned into a sensation, over the course of the last months. A sensation... like an addiction, something he would not be able to stop doing if he wanted to.

"I know you do not care if you die or not... but do not fall under the false belief you are invincible now. Because nobody is." Kismet's voice sounded scolding, but there was something else in it now. Henry thought it could maybe be understanding.

He threw her a glance and suddenly asked himself if she had ever been where he was now – fighting for the sheer sake of fighting... and for the sensation of making yourself feel something again, be it the pain from injuries. After all, where had all her scars come from? She was way too skilled of a warrior to have suffered so many injuries without excessively exposing herself to danger, was she not?

"Quit staring at me lad, and tend to your wound. If you like, we can spar after dinner." With that, she disappeared from the entrance, leaving Henry to his injury – and his thoughts.

_Bound to fall and then to rise, life reaped by Death, in darkness flies._ Henry realized he was moving his lips to form the familiar words. Life reaped by Death... in darkness flies. Life reaped... life saved... or life taken. Henry pondered on the double meaning of the word.

He glanced over the rest of the prophecy before letting the worn leather scroll snap shut. The Death Rider... the... Lone Rider. Henry did not know why he had introduced himself to Longclaw with this modified version of his title – or maybe he did.

He was not the Death Rider anymore. Because to be the Death Rider, he needed Death. And Death was gone.

Henry was surprised at how little the thought phased him anymore. He was almost ashamed of how much he had let Thanatos' betrayal get to him, back then. He gazed at his right hand, the claw marks were still visible, though all that remained was a confusing network of white lines.

The great numbness in his chest grew, the more he thought of the flier. It was like there was something behind it, emotions, desperately trying to claw their way out, but in vain.

Henry scoffed at himself – Thanatos was the past, and the past was insignificant. He realized if he never had to see his face ever again that would be the greatest gift this universe could still give him. So what if he had never cared for him? Who was Henry to need other people to care about him anyway?

His thoughts ran back to Luxa, to their childhood together – gone, ripped away for good, because of his own fault. Ares – his first bond who he had betrayed, and who had betrayed him, most likely dead from the plague. His parents – dead by the claws of Gorger and his companions, maybe even the very same rats who cheered him on in the arena almost every day. And now Thanatos, his second bond, that had not even truly been a bond in the first place, as their entire relationship had been based on nothing but practicality.

It's not like Henry didn't see his point though – not getting attached seemed to be a good idea actually. After all, at this point, Henry held no regrets anymore. All his own failures and losses had ever done was move him forward, after all.

Mindlessly, he traced the two fierce red lines through his good eye, an injury from a battle a few days ago. His opponent had been a rat that Longclaw had sentenced to death in the arena. Henry had made it swift for her – but she had put up a fight – and left a mark.

For a second, the exiled prince considered counting how many scars the more or less forty battles he had fought so far, over the course of what must be more than ninety days, had left on his body – but then he realized if he would do that, it would most likely take the entire evening. And he had better things to do with his time, than counting scars.

He and Kismet circled each other in their training cave. She had allowed him to put up his torch to practice under the same conditions he had in the arena, and Henry's focus lied on the scarred rat only.

Over the course of the last three months, they had sparred regularly, and Kismet had revealed many of the secrets she had disclosed about the art of battle to him. Yet she herself remained undefeated – even if at this point he put up a decent fight to her at least.

Many times Kismet's lectures and their training had saved his life in the arena – he had battled everything from cutters, over buzzers and stingers to countless rats – even a couple pinchers once, and then there had been that trio of spinners, about a month ago. There is a method to victory against everything – Kismet always said.

Henry didn't nearly think that systematically, he was far too spontaneous, enjoying leaving a few things up to chance, to ever get behind Kismet's almost agonizing way to think in systems and patterns – but he usually understood the lesson behind the words. The rest she just bored him with to spite him, he was almost certain of that.

Now, he sensed her attack and leaped to the side, seeing the back of her head in reach. With Mys, that he had left in the sheath to avoid actually hurting her, he sliced at Kismet's head. She blocked, almost unnaturally fast, and counterattacked immediately.

Henry ducked away and slipped through in between her hind legs, kicking her in the side with his foot. She lost balance for a second and barely dodged his incoming attack. "You are truly getting good!", she heaved heavily, and Henry smirked. "And who do you think I have to thank for, for that – except myself, of course?"

Henry was sitting outside the cave, torch beside him. He had once again not defeated Kismet today, but he was certain his time would come – sooner or later.

One year... he thought, the feeling strangely grim. One year in exile... almost exactly, at this point. One year of... what? Hardships? Change? Pain? Loneliness? Definitely.

The prophecy of the Death Rider came to mind. Darkness, solitude, and pain, endure them all and reap the gain. Darkness... solitude, and pain. He surely had endured it all – he had even mastered darkness now. Solitude... solitude would be his life now, Kismet's company was welcomed, but the longer he stayed with her, the more he thought of just leaving. He couldn't stay with her forever... she had her own loneliness to get back to, after all, and he now had his. Oh, and pain... pain was a nigh daily sensation now, almost like an addiction, an escape from the all-consuming numbness that usually enveloped his heart.

Henry pondered – how similar were his and Kismet's stories...? The feelings they had to deal with...? Henry realized he had never asked her for her own past, and yet he was not sure if he even needed to know.

He had made such a drama of Thanatos not telling him his... and now? What was so different with Kismet? Henry knew exactly what it was, yet he had no way to express his feelings in words.

His relationship with Kismet was just... different. They didn't need words or stories... they had a different form of connection. Henry suddenly asked himself if it was mutual need, in a way. Did Kismet need him? Did... he need Kismet? No, Henry thought, yet the term still came closest to describing them. They did not need each other to survive, but they needed each other to... give their life meaning.

It was what he thought Thanatos and he had shared too... an almost higher form of mutual need... until he had found out the truth.

Henry sighed and took his backpack. He had been reluctant to even open it, over the course of the last months, for it held unwanted memories. At the bottom, safely stored, still lied the Skyrock, that he had never ended up taking to Teslas.

Henry had not seen the nibblers, or anyone except for Kismet, really, over the course of the last three months. In truth, he did not know how he could face them, after everything that had happened. He thought of little Curie – how was he supposed to tell her Thanatos would not come for her anymore? Or maybe he was – maybe that was where the flier had run to – only one more reason to stay away from the colony.

Henry dug through the backpack and fetched his mother's notebook. There was nothing any of the sketches of the gadgets in it could still do for him – the last page, the unfinished idea he had had, shortly after the quest in the jungle, opened, and to his surprise, a jolt of pain pierced Henry's heart at its sight. Wasn't he... over it, at this point?

His thumb traced the almost lazily scribbled lines, reminiscing on how he had first had this idea, how excited he had been to try it. Now he would never be able to.

A completely unexpected wave of sadness engulfed him suddenly, and he shut the notebook immediately, before burying it at the bottom of his backpack. Enough with the reminiscing – it would do him no good to dwell on the things that would never be, instead, he should focus on the present.

Henry reluctantly pulled out a piece of bone he had collected at some point, and in the light from the torch, started carving. He had started this habit soon after he had begun his career as the Lone Rider champion in the rat arena, and by now, had even gotten fairly good at it.

Henry remembered the first time he had attempted to use Mys to transform a bone into a rat, and when he had shown Kismet, she had stared at it through the vision aid for a second, before asking what it was.

"A rat, of course... can't you see?"

She had stared for another second, before blurting out "It is hideous."

Henry had known she had been right, and yet her words had stung. Instead of letting them discourage him though, he had taken them the way she had probably meant them – as a challenge.

Over the course of the last three months, he had practiced quite a bit and was the proud owner of a whole collection of self-made figurines now. He had taken to depicting all the species he had defeated in the arena so far and more. There was one of a mouse too, it was a mix of Teslas' and Curie's features, perhaps a grown-up version of Curie, Henry always thought.

The latest addition, one he had finished only a few days ago, depicted Kismet herself – with all her scars and the vision aid, that the little figurine held to her eye. When he had shown it to her, she had stared at it for a while, before chuckling – "Godness, do I look terrible."

Henry had laughed, taking it as her complaining about her own looks and not his carving, and as a compliment to his accuracy.

Now, he stared at the freshly-carved face of the new figurine he was working on – at himself. He was wearing the new mask, his gaze was cold and distant, and in his hand, he clutched Mys. Henry could almost not believe this was who he was now – not that he was complaining, not even in the slightest, but still.

He suddenly remembered how he had stared into a waterfall, not recognizing his own face, when he had first visited the nibbler colony, almost a year ago. The frightened, traumatized, haggard face of a kid, that had been scared to lose himself.

He mindlessly spun the unfinished figurine of himself around in his hand. If his one-year-younger self would be able to see him now... would he even recognize him? Would he... like what he saw? Would he think he had lost himself too much?

Henry stared into his own face – he had most certainly changed much more than he had wanted to, and yet he was not unpleased with who he had become. That was how change worked though, was it not?

_You can only change as much as you allow yourself to change_ – a voice suddenly rang in his ears, and Henry sighed. Had he... allowed himself to become who he was now? Or had the universe forced the change on him?

He stared at his face – scarred from countless battles, mutilated from the serpent, his hair that now reached beyond his shoulders, that he had taken to wearing tied together. The clothes from raw materials – bounty won in the arena or taken as tribute from fallen enemies. Was he... still himself... beneath all that?

Henry gave it some thought and realized he would not have been able to answer that question if his life depended on it. After all... in a way, he was not – but at the same time... how could he ever truly stop being himself?

Henry tugged at his mask and made sure his ignifer-pellets were ready and within reach. He was standing at his designated spot, in the shade of the back end of the arena, almost reluctantly awaiting his next opponent.

Fifty battles, his tally counted now – this was going to be a special one, Longclaw had promised. Something about the expression in his eyes had made the exiled prince wonder about his intentions again, and yet battle was battle, Henry told himself. How could this one be special?

Four months... more than four entire months Henry had spent with almost nothing except fighting in this very arena. His days had been... almost monotonous... nothing noteworthy, really. Waking up, practicing, maybe a battle – more practicing, and then going to sleep again. Eating and working on his carving collection in between, or tending to whatever new injury the countless battles had brought.

He had recently started wondering if this would be his life now – if the time of great adventure and exploration was over. He knew he had had so many plans – crossing the waterway, creating new inventions with Teslas, seeing Luxa and Nerissa again – maybe, if he was alive, talking things out with Ares... Henry had wanted to do so many things still, yet he felt like he had missed his chance.

All his goals, his dreams, his ambitions... he had a feeling their time was over now, and this life... this arena... was all he would ever have the mind to focus on anymore. Until it finally struck him down.

There were worse things to occupy yourself with, he thought, and yet a part of him longed for the past. No matter how hard he had tried to bury that part of his, it was still there, almost laughing at what had become of him now.

While Henry was certain his younger self would not mind most changes he had undergone over the last year, he certainly would mind this... this loss of spirit, of ambition... this apathy, that had controlled almost his every thought and action for what were now four months.

What had caused it, he wondered – and at the same time, he knew it very well. Kismet herself had told him – the world had finally broken him. Henry knew she was right, no matter how much he tried to deny it, no matter how many times he told himself he didn't care anymore – he did.

Everything that had happened to him before, all the agonizing, traumatizing events, all of it, from being ripped out of his peaceful life, away from his home and family, over losing his eye, facing countless powerful enemies on his own, over darkness, solitude, and pain – it all had not been able to break him. No, Henry knew it had, in fact, made him stronger, every single experience had taught him something, had served a purpose.

But Thanatos' betrayal... it had been the last nail in the coffin. He despised that it had been Thanatos, out of everyone, who had managed to break him – he didn't wish to grant him the satisfaction – and yet he knew very well it was true.

When Henry heard Dustfur's voice, he snapped out of it. Grim thoughts wouldn't get him anywhere now. He should focus on preparing for the battle, instead of wasting his thoughts on useless matters.

"Today marks the day our famed champion the LONE RIDER could celebrate his FIFTIETH STRAIGHT VICTORY in this honorable establishment!" The announcer's voice was almost drowned in cheers.

"But, dear viewers... he is not facing just anyone today. Before this battle begins, let's all give our greatest champion of all times the WELCOME HE DESERVES!"

Henry looked up, surprised. Why were they calling him in before his opponent? Usually, the reigning champion entered last...

He nonetheless stepped into the light and was welcomed by deafening cheers. Henry automatically raised his arms – this would be his day. He was not afraid – whoever Longclaw would pin him up against, he was certain of victory at this point.

"And now... for the first time in the history of this – and any other establishment of the sort – we present to you in our arena..."

Henry looked at the opposite entrance to the pit, where he expected his opponent. But instead, a shadow suddenly darted down – from above him. Henry winced as he perceived the very familiar sound of wings. The creature circled above him once, before landing in the sand that covered the round center of the arena.

Henry's eyes widened in shock, he almost dropped the sword he had already drawn and had been ready to ignite.

"... the battle between the Man Who Knows Not Death... and DEATH HIMSELF!"


	14. Unbroken Pledge

Henry's eyes darted to Dustfur, what did he mean by "Death himself"? But the flier that now cowered on the other side of the arena, left him no time to question anything.

Henry had not even enough time to ignite his sword, before he leaped forward, darting at him, a ghastly scream sounding from behind the mask that covered his face.

Henry dodged in the last second, slicing at the flier – since when did fliers fight... without humans? He had never heard of such a thing before and been accordingly shocked when he had seen his opponent.

Henry stared at the flier for a second... from what he could see, his fur was black and the claws at the joints of his ginormous wings were adorned with rat teeth to make them longer. The teeth showed old stains of blood, as did the claws on the flier's feet. Like he... never even washed the blood off...

Henry would have wondered why, if he'd had the time. He registered the flier was wearing something around his neck... like a string with severed rat claws, and his face was covered by the skull of one, very similar to the mask he himself had worn when he had met the quest on the waterway.

It's almost like someone... dressed him up, Henry thought, then the battle left him no time to think anymore.

The flier was fast and aggressive, yet Henry dodged all his attacks with ease. He was in no hurry to kill him – he was way too interested in what he had in store. Henry had learned quickly that, in the arena, the audience didn't like it when a battle ended too fast. It was more about who put on the best show, not who killed who faster. And if Henry was good at something, it was pleasing an audience.

The exiled prince had just dodged an attack from above by rolling off through the sand. In the next moment, he was on his feet again, sword firmly gripped, waiting for the flier to come closer.

This time though, his opponent didn't immediately zoom in on him again. Instead, Henry noticed he flew a circle above his head, before suddenly nosediving towards him. Then, Henry saw nothing but a black trail, whizzing around him with admirable speed.

The exiled prince was dazed for a moment, that's when the flier stuck – Henry felt a sharp pain pierce his shoulder, the right one, the one Sizzleblood had torn open so many months ago, to the point where he had had to resort to using his sling because he had been barely able to hold his sword. Back then, Thanatos had had to distract her while Henry had collected stones, by... by...

Henry's head suddenly started spinning – and not from the flier that had now ended his maneuver around him and retreated to safe distance again.

By... Henry saw it before his inner eye, like it had only happened yesterday... by... performing a... coiler... a coiler around his opponent, seeking to daze and disorient her...

His head darted up – barely in time to dodge another attack, he had stopped paying the battle all his attention, but how could he?

This... this maneuver, the coiler... had that become such a trend among the rats that this flier somehow picked up on it? But how could it... Thanatos had only performed it once, and Henry was fairly certain that he had come up with this type of use for it first.

Death... himself. A wave of panic suddenly engulfed Henry and he stared at the flier above him, who now dove again, seeking to rip his head off with his bloodied claws. Henry's gaze darted over to his wing... the left one. He dodged his attack, counterstriking automatically – the flier sounded a pained cry when Henry hit his foot with the sword. His flight became unstable for a moment and he remained close to the ground for a second more than he normally would have – that's when Henry saw it.

The stitch was almost invisible, black fabric on black tissue, but it was nonetheless visible – Hey, I mean you look like a patchwork rug, but if it's working...! Henry gripped the handle of Mys automatically, that had the tissue from that very same wing wrapped around it, still... This was... impossible...

He held his ground on the floor, trying to keep his head from spinning. I need to see, Henry thought, I need to see his face. To be... certain. Absolutely certain.

Henry focused his senses – he clearly envisioned the strap of the mask. Precision, he thought – his brain knew exactly how far away the flier was and with what speed he was approaching, and it calculated the exact moment to strike for Henry.

With a swift motion, the exiled prince leaped to the side, when the flier finally reached him, and drew Mys at the same moment. With impeccable precision, he sliced at the strap and cut it in half, the mask fell off immediately.

Like in slow-motion, Henry saw the flier fly a zig-zag pattern upward when he realized the mask was gone. Turn around... Henry thought, tightening the grip around Mys until his knuckles were white. Just... turn around.

When the flier finally did, only to immediately zoom in on Henry for attack again, the exiled prince could do nothing but stare in shock. The impact catapulted him several feet forward, he landed on his back, having all air forcefully pressed out of his lungs for a second.

In the last moment, he rolled to the side – before Thanatos' enhanced claws pierced the ground where his head had just been, a few heartbeats ago. Henry tried to chase the daze, the shock brought with it, away, now was not the time to get distracted – yet here he was.

Did... Thanatos not recognize him? Henry determinately tore his own mask off, tossing it to the side.

"Death, it's me!", he cried – nothing concealing the gruesome scar that covered almost the entire right half of his face anymore – while blocking the claws of the flier he had once called bond.

The force of Henry's parry catapulted Thanatos away, he landed on all fours, a few feet away from the exiled prince, but when Henry looked for a sign of recognition or familiarity in his eyes, all he saw was emptiness and aggression. Thanatos opened his mouth for an unworldly scream, baring his teeth.

Was... this where he had been all this time? Right here... in the same arena? A hundred questions suddenly jolted through his mind, why had they never met before, then? What was he still doing here? Why was... Longclaw. Longclaw had mentioned a special battle today... had he known of the... connection between Henry and Thanatos?

He might have seen me in the ice caves, the exiled prince thought – did he do this on purpose?

The crowd around them was roaring now, they were enjoying themselves more than usual as this battle was exciting – no clear superiority, at least seemingly.

The confusion and shock, that had filled him up to this point, disappeared, and, all of a sudden, seething anger boiled up in Henry. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT THEN?!" He screamed in Thanatos' direction, feeling a jolt of adrenaline and fresh focus fill him. "Do you want me dead THAT BADLY?! Was it not enough to LEAVE ME – DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME YOURSELF?!"

The only response Henry received was a roar and another attack. That's when he knew – this was the day one of them would die. And Henry also knew it would not be him.

Had he before fought only for show, everything within Henry was now determined to kill. In an almost blinding rage, he wielded his sword with all of his skill, leaving a couple angry slices along Thanatos' body. The flier bled from several wounds now – but he too seemed determined to strike him down. Henry soon had a gash on his upper leg and another across his back, but in the heat of the battle, he did not even feel the pain.

Then, Thanatos managed to close his teeth around Henry's arm and when the exiled prince finally shook him, he had left a deep bite mark on his skin. It burnt like fire, but only fueled the rage within Henry.

This time, his sword flew at the flier's face and left a gashing mark, that formed an x-shape together with Thanatos' other scar. His pained scream was high-pitched and ghastly, he was vulnerable.

Henry's body and brain instinctively saw the opening in his defenses, he leaped forward, gripping his sword with both hands – ready to thrust it into Thanatos' throat – and missed.

For a second, Henry stood there, across the flier, sword next to his throat, panting heavily from the battle, staring at him with his one remaining eye. He had missed... on purpose, of course... he had... how could he not?

All his rage suddenly dropped, the adrenaline left him and all Henry really wanted to do was collapse and cry, right here, in the center of this arena filled with rats.

But Thanatos wasn't that forgiving. The moment he realized Henry had spared him, he flung his wing at Henry's hand, forcing him to drop the sword. Then, the exiled prince felt a sharp pain, unlike any he had experienced over the course of the last four months in his stomach – he looked down and saw Thanatos' claw, to the root, piercing his side. Henry stared at it, unbelieving, for a second, before he felt his legs give way.

At the very same moment, Thanatos smacked the side of his head, sending him flying several feet, before he finally lied still on the floor. The flier instantly leaped at him, and Henry instinctively reached up to grab onto him like he had, back when he had lost his eye. But this time, Thanatos did not cower over him in fear – no, he remained motionless, bloodied claw still raised, and stared down at Henry with eyes like stones, glowing with the familiar amber light.

"Death...", Henry whispered, he felt a tear run down his cheek. It was like Thanatos' claw had not only pierced his flesh, but also the numbness that Henry had built up around his emotions, and he felt the seething grief he had kept in for so long seep out now, far worse than the physical pain from his injuries.

He registered Thanatos was still cowering over him – he had now bared his teeth, ready to finish Henry off any moment now.

The exiled prince closed his eyes, waiting for the bite, hoping it would come sooner rather than later. He was convinced only death could form a way out of his pain now, and he strived to not feel it anymore. Not... anymore, not ever again.

Henry was light-headed, most likely from the blood loss. He saw before him the flier, fixating him on the ground with his claw, ready to attack – and his memory suddenly took him back. Back, a year ago, to when they had first met. He had held him in a position very similar to this, when Henry... Henry had asked him to...

"Well", his voice was barely more than a whisper, Henry coughed before he was able to speak on, "... dying by the strike of a warrior who still knows honor is at the moment the best thing I could hope for..."

Another coughing fit overcame him, and he blindly reached up, desperate for one last time of claw-to-hand... of... the bond.

"I... I bound to... you", he whispered, wanting to continue on, to recite more of the familiar words.

Our life and death are one... are one... We... are one... that was the last thought Henry could form in his mind, before his hand, that Thanatos hadn't even acknowledged, fell back at his side and the black oblivion of unconsciousness enveloped him.

I bound to you, echoed in Thanatos' head, I bound to... you. Something within him resonated with the words, something, buried deep inside, something that... was almost certain it should recognize the man before him... The man... the... boy.

"Well... what are you waiting for? He is yours – kill him." The voice sounded from behind him and Thanatos jolted around. Those eyes... those... those claws. He still felt the pain, he still heard his voice ringing in his head. Thanatos did not know how much time had passed since he had fallen down the waterfall... since... he... had taken him.

All he knew was that he was here for a reason... a reason the rat with the vicious eyes had given him... do it or suffer, he had threatened... and how hard could it really be, killing one target? It was not worth more suffering... it was not.

But when Thanatos looked back at the boy before him, his limp hand that he had extended to him – I bound to you – the words rang louder now, the flier felt like there was something about to break the surface, a memory, a piece of knowledge, something that had been beaten and cut out of his mind by more agony than he knew he had the strength to endure.

Dying by the strike of a warrior who still knows honor... Something sounded so familiar about that phrase... like he had heard it before somewhere. Thanatos tried with all his might to remember, but then he felt the burning lashes of leather, like he was being struck this very moment. No, he gritted his teeth, he wanted to remember, he wanted to...

He had already opened his mouth, baring his bloodied teeth for a deadly bite, when his gaze fell upon the scar that tore the boy's face.

Death... Death, what is the matter with my... eye? Thanatos froze. Death... speak to me, please... what...?

D... Death... Death... DEATH!

It was like a glass barrier shattered inside Thanatos, like a mirror that had blocked his view on what had happened, and only allowed the view on the most recent experience of pain... was broken in two, releasing all that had been buried beneath.

Memories flooded his brain, memories of... his gaze fell upon the boy – he knew his name... "... H... Henry...?" Thanatos realized his voice was shaking. Dazed from the realization and the flood of impressions and memories that now swirled around in his head, he stared at the boy... then he saw the puddle of blood he was lying in, that had seeped out of his wounds.

Blind anger at whoever had injured him jolted through Thanatos' body before more memories returned... he unbelievingly stared down at his own claw, covered in blood. Then, something in his head snapped.

The scream of agony, the flier sounded, filled the entire ginormous cave, it echoed from every wall, and many gnawers in the audience tried to shut their ears in discomfort. But not all of them.

When Longclaw saw, Thanatos had regained his senses, he leaped at the boy himself, claws bared. The flier didn't hesitate – he let himself fall onto Henry, shielding him with his own body. Longclaw's talons tore a gash in his body, but he felt only the seething pain inside his mind.

More of Longclaw's followers saw their leader attack, and clustered around him now, trying to get to Henry themselves. Thanatos felt nothing, none of the countless cuts he was hit with, all he knew was that he needed to get Henry out.

In a last uproar, he spread his ginormous wings and turned, sweeping the gnawers closest to him off their feet. He gripped Henry's arm with one claw, his sword with the second, and lifted off, right from amidst the angry gnawers.

Thanatos had no idea where he was going, his mind was still dazed and disoriented, he just took a random tunnel that was big enough to fit him and high in the air, so that the rats couldn't follow him.

A river... the flier thought, he needed a river. He... Henry would need to drink... and see... and clean his wounds. He continued cluelessly traversing the tunnels for what felt like at least an hour until he finally saw the glow of a river in the distance.

No, Thanatos realized, that was not a river – it was a lake. It glowed with a faint orange and a waterfall fed it, from somewhere higher above them. A... waterfall. The flier realized he recognized the place... this was where...

The memories that now seeped back hurt, he remembered his own words... If you let me go, you'll never see me again!

The memory burned like fire, Thanatos had almost been glad he had forgotten. No... no... Henry... Henry was here... he was safe... he was... motionlessly lying on the floor now, bleeding from his stomach. A bruise at the side of his head and a deep bitemark on his arm, as well as countless cuts added to it.

Thanatos' head started spinning when he realized it had been him who had done all that to the boy... to... his... his bond. His bond... his... his reason to live.

He felt his chest tighten almost to the point where he couldn't breathe anymore. Henry couldn't die... he couldn't... if he died, Thanatos knew he would immediately follow him. He would simply drop into the lake, never to surface again. It was so much easier than living with the fact he had killed his bond... with his own claws... his bond, that had screamed at him, threatened to let him fall when they had last spoken.

He abandoned you, Longclaw's voice suddenly sounded in Thanatos' head, he is not going to come, Thanatos – he is leaving you to your fate, not that I can blame him. He is not deserving of your faith. Angrily, Thanatos squinted his eyes. It wasn't... it couldn't be true. It... couldn't.

He stared down at him and suddenly realized, if Henry died now, he would do so with his last memory of Thanatos being the moment he had thrust his claw into his stomach... panic gripped his heart at the thought, he wanted to cry, to scream, to shake Henry until he awoke, but he was too weak.

Thanatos simply collapsed beside him, feeling his own injuries, a thousand burning cuts, across his back. He meekly inched closer, burying his face in Henry's side, shutting his eyes firmly. It was like the last half a year had not happened, like they had never drifted this far apart, like there had never been a wall between them. There... there had never been...

The boy was warm... he was still warm, his blood was now pouring into Thanatos' fur, mixing with his own, but the flier didn't care. He only pressed himself closer to Henry and slipped his claw into his limp hand, in an attempt to comfort the boy... and himself.

As long as his body still hadn't grown cold with death he would not give up hope... he would... not.

The first thing Henry felt when he realized he was regaining consciousness, was something pressing against his side. His eye meekly opened and he saw black and white fur, drenched with the red of blood.

He realized it was Thanatos... Thanatos, who... Henry jolted back in fear immediately, painfully gripping his side and collapsing at a wall. Thanatos raised his head slowly, his eyes misted with pain and... something else. The aggression had left them now, Henry realized, but he still pressed himself against the wall in the anticipation of another attack.

The flier's gaze when he had pierced him burned in his memory and Henry realized he was shaking. "D... don't... hurt me... please..." His voice was quiet and weak, he felt blood pouring out of his side coloring his hand and clothes red.

Thanatos stared at him, the pain in his eyes was different now – "I... I will not, I swear..." His voice was clouded with grief and quiet.

"Y... you... you almost... killed me... why... did what I did truly make you want to... kill me?" His own voice didn't sound any better. He was staring at the flier now, eye round of fear and pain.

Thanatos winched. "N... no... Henry, I was not myself, I...", he sighed, "you have to believe I would never hurt you on purpose, I..." Before he could finish his sentence, Thanatos collapsed on the floor, panting heavily.

Henry's mind reeled. For the first time, he had the opportunity to look at the flier more thoroughly, and what he saw terrified him. Countless scars, from cuts over whip marks and burns, covered his body, his back was entirely filled with every type of scar Henry could think of. "W... wha.. what? What... did that to you...?"

Thanatos raised his gaze. "They... he... he told me you wouldn't come... That they had seen you happy and alive, already having forgotten I existed. I held on before... I did, you have to believe me... they did everything they could, but they did not break me... until... until he told me you were not coming for me..."

Hot pain and anger rose in Henry, at whoever it had been – "Who...?" Suddenly, he saw Longclaw's maniacal grin when he told Henry the battle today would be special. "Longclaw..."

Thanatos made a sound that signaled approval. Henry's head started spinning. Was that why he had wanted him to become a champion? To test how much he had already succeeded in brainwashing his flier? When had he even captured him? Henry had so many questions that his head started hurting and spinning, but all he said was – "He did not break you", his voice was quiet but resolute. "You remembered. You did not... kill me."

Thanatos rose a little. "You... you are right."

All of their disagreements, the argument, the fight... how he had let Thanatos go... it all seemed so far away now, almost like it had all been a bad dream. Then, another memory hit him. "Why did you not kill me...", he whispered, averting his eye, "you... you would not weep if I died... isn't that what you said?"

Thanatos squinted his eyes in pain. "Henry, that was what I tried to convince myself of because I was scared I had... had grown too attached to you. I... I do not have much positive experience with getting attached. It was a lie... a lie I wish I never told. Not to Hamnet... not to myself."

Henry stared at him and tears started filling his eyes. All his hopes from before the dam had broken and he had confronted Thanatos with what he had heard, returned, and he soon found himself shaking with crying.

"Y... you... you have to promise we'll be honest from now on – I'll do as well, I can not..." His voice broke from the tears and turned into a sob. He covered his eye with his hand but all it did was smear blood on his face.

Thanatos nodded. "I... I know."

Then, Henry carefully extended a hand towards him. "W... we...?"

A wave of grief engulfed Thanatos. "I... I do not think I have the right to take your hand anymore... not after what I did... to you..."

"W... what?" Henry's voice sounded so scared, so much like that of a child that had just been denied the hand of a loved one that Thanatos could barely remain in place.

"Henry... I am not... you... you are what matters, you know? It was my duty to protect you, to guide you, but... I never mattered as much as you. And if I can not even protect you from myself, how can I still presume I have any place at your side anymore?"

Henry had not moved, all he did was stare at his flier with the big, round eye of a kid.

"I am... lost. You have hope... do not make the same mistake I did and refuse to acknowledge your past. Then you will have hope. But I... there is no hope for me. There never was, not since more than eight years." He lied down, burying his head between his wings, to not have to look at Henry's helpless expression anymore.

When he heard a noise, Thanatos looked up. He saw the boy trying to rise from the wall – "Hey, don't move, you will –"

Henry fell forward, letting out a short cry of pain. But he did not stop. He slowly dragged himself closer to Thanatos, until he could wrap his arms around his neck and bury his face in his fur. "That is not true", he squeezed out between the sobs. "Death..." The name rang in Thanatos' ears... "Death, you are... you and I, we... our lives... our life and death are one... we two..." Thanatos froze.

"You and I... are one... if I live you live... and if you die... I will die with you. That's how bonds work... stupid."

Thanatos' breaths were shaky. "You... you truly mean that? Even after all that..."

The sound Henry made now was half-crying, half-laughing. "Just promise me one thing... I really just want this one thing from you... Promise me that you will never, never leave me again. No matter what happens, what I say or do to you, no matter if I happen to beg you to leave me... do not... do not leave me... please."

Thanatos had no choice in this. He quietly muttered – "If that is what will make you happy... that is what I'll promise."

Henry extended his hand towards Thanatos' claw again, and this time, the flier grabbed it without hesitation.


	15. Past

After a couple of minutes lying in silence, pressed against each other like they were scared this was all just a dream and that they would soon wake, apart once more, Thanatos told him to go clean his wounds and try to stop the bleeding.

Henry reluctantly moved away towards the lake and washed out the countless cuts and bruises, as well as the bite on his arm.

Thanatos was watching him, his gaze grim and regretful. "I don't hold it against you... just you know." Henry managed a crooked smile.

"Well, I do. Hold it against myself, that is. Had I just – AAGH!" Henry had approached him, attempting to clean the flier's wounds too now.

"Don't. I injured you as much as you did me – and I did it without being brainwashed." Henry inspected Thanatos' back closer for the first time, once more horrified by the number of scars on it now. For a second, he buried his face in the flier's fur. "I'm so sorry I let them do that to you. I... I should have looked for you, should have made an effort to –"

But Thanatos scoffed. "You had no reason to believe I wanted to be found. I... I do not want to think of it... I just want to forget... everything, everything that happened."

"The argument too?" Henry's voice was muffled from the fur.

"All of it. We... I can honestly not believe we let it get this far. After all that we've been through..." Thanatos mumbled, closing his eyes.

"... after I've lost a bond to estrangement before..." Henry's voice was quiet, yet the flier sensed the pain in it.

"It is in the past. And as much as we need to keep in mind, to learn from the mistakes we both made, it is still the past, and we should not dwell on it for too long."

"Okay", was all Henry answered, and it was more than enough.

"So, where do you want to go now?" Thanatos finally stretched his wings, after having spent nearly an hour tending to their injuries and just talking, about what Henry had done in the last four months, anecdotes from their past, plans for the future and just random things – like old times.

Henry sighed, his side still ached and he saw Thanatos was not in the best shape either. "Back to Kismet? At least for a while. It's not far from here and safe, we can both let our injuries heal properly before we go back to the Dead Land – I am itching for adventure, honestly!"

The flier chuckled. "What about that rock – did you bring it to Teslas yet?"

Henry widened his eye – "I had almost forgotten, no I did not! The colony first, then."

During the flight, Henry explained, his voice misted with the pain the memory brought with it, he had not been able to face anyone they knew, not after what had happened, and Thanatos nodded, understanding.

"They surely must ask themselves where we are and why we aren't coming at this point – Curie will have missed you greatly. She'll probably be all grown-up at this point, too!" Henry laughed, while Thanatos landed directly before Kismet's cave.

The scarred rat asked not many questions, much like she hadn't asked why Thanatos had been gone, back when she had saved Henry. Both of them were eternally grateful as neither wanted to explain the whole story at the moment, it was too painful of a memory. All they wanted was to just leave this entire episode behind them for good.

"We can never let dishonesty drive us apart like this again", Henry said while chewing on one of the Firebeetles. They had not thought about bringing fish from the lake, so it was the only food available.

Thanatos was lying beside him, head pressed against his side, he had already filled his stomach with the beetles earlier. Kismet had left to occupy herself down in her caves where she kept her research and allowed Thanatos and Henry to stay for maybe another week or so until their injuries had healed.

"You are right. From now on, no more secrets... I promise." The flier inched a little closer to him and Henry nodded. "No more secrets. I promise as well."

"You... you are still burning with questions, concerning what I talked about with Hamnet, are you not?" Thanatos sounded hesitant now, and Henry thought just how painful it must be to talk about for him.

"You... you were there. In the Garden of the Hesperides... were you not?" Henry dug in his memory to help the flier. "Was that why you ran away? Like Hamnet?" In the very same moment, he remembered Luxa's uncle mentioning Thanatos had left three years after him, and he decided to ask a different question first. "What... what was your life like, back then? Before you left? You knew Hamnet and Mareth... anyone else I know?"

Thanatos sighed, and Henry saw him smile sadly. "All of them. We were all... friends – Mareth, Hamnet, your father Jason, and Luxa's mother, Hamnet's twin sister, queen Judith. We... and our bonds, we were nigh-inseparable back then. Judith's and Hamnet's older sister Susannah and her husband York were acquainted with us too, though they were not truly part of our little gang."

"Who... was Arya?" Henry had wanted to ask who his bond had been, but he had a feeling he had asked the question by asking for the name.

He felt Thanatos pushing his face into his side like he didn't want Henry to see it. "She was... we were... bonds, as you probably guessed. She was... not royalty or anything, a soldier, like Mareth. They were cousins, actually. It had been him who had first introduced us."

Henry was silent for a moment, trying to imagine it all. His father, all these people... and Thanatos. Young and careless and together, a gang of, how he presumed, troublemakers – and best friends.

"How..." Henry started kneading his hands, "what was she like? Arya, I mean."

Thanatos chuckled. "Brave... and bold, always rushing head-first into the action. You... you two would have gotten along." The thought made Henry grin, he lied down, leaning his head against Thanatos' back.

"I admit", the flier continued, "you are similar in a lot of ways... but then again, Arya had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I ever met. She was compassionate and caring – if she wasn't currently kicking the ass of whoever made the mistake to mess with someone she cared about. And we all know you have the social sensitivity and empathy of a rock."

They both laughed at that. "I would have liked to have met her", Henry finally said.

After a moment of silence, Henry asked for the second name he had heard during Thanatos' conversation with Hamnet. "What about... Persephone?"

The flier sighed. "She... she was Hamnet's bond. And... she and I, we..." Henry noticed he hesitated, "we were... companions. Before... before all of that happened, we thought we would spend our lives together... have pups, grow old at each other's side..."

Henry grinned. "I never realized you ever had... someone like that."

Thanatos grunted. "Why? Didn't take me for the type?" They both broke into laughter before the flier continued – "Actually, me neither, before I met her."

"She must have been special", the exiled prince smiled.

"She... I said Arya had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I had ever met – Persephone's was the second. She... she was so kind, caring, understanding... always listened to everyone's problems, never complaining, never judging and never demanding anything for herself. She... she deserved the world, you know? And what she got, was..." Thanatos interrupted himself, his voice breaking away.

Henry's head was spinning. "She died in the Garden..." He remembered Ripred saying Hamnet's bond had died that day – and Thanatos retreating at the mention of her. It all made sense now.

"She... I wanted to save her, but..." The flier's voice was muffled with sadness now, "Arya had been in peril, and Hamnet assured me he would reach her. I... I dove for Arya, and he... he never got to Persephone."

Henry turned around and wrapped his arms around Thanatos. He could feel his body trembling with pain, and at that moment, all Henry wanted was to alleviate that pain as much as he could.

The flier resumed speaking after a short silence, like he just wanted to get everything off his chest now. "After Persephone and my mother both died in the Garden and Hamnet left, a couple weeks later, Arya was the only reason that held me in civilization. I moved to live in Regalia with her, from the flier's land, after that, and we kept each other's sorrow at bay, for the next three years."

"What about your father?" Henry asked, "Or any other relatives?"

"Never had any, at least not any close ones", Thanatos replied. "My father died shortly after I was born, I have only faint memories of him." Henry remained silent, he felt the flier's loneliness and pain like it was his own now.

"Or gang was disassembled", Thanatos continued, "Mareth and Arya remained close, but your father and Judith grew more distant. The loss of Hamnet, Persephone, and that of your father's bond Hecate had done irreversible damage to all of us."

Henry knew that this next part would be as hard to talk about as the previous, if not harder. "What... what happened to her? Arya, I mean."

He felt the flier tense up. "She... we... we grew reckless. Some three years after the incident at the Garden, the humans had trouble with one of Gorger's general specifically, who was rumored to even be the king's right-hand-man. Many believe he would be his successor to the throne, too. Though, if I'm informed correctly, Gorger banished him about five years ago, for he had tried to assassinate him, apparently not willing to wait any longer for the crown."

Henry listened carefully, arms still wrapped around his flier, attempting to provide as much comfort and reassuring he was not alone, as possible.

"That general, you know him", said Thanatos then, to Henry's surprise.

"Who..." Suddenly, the exiled prince saw the flier's shocked face when he had seen Longclaw in the ice caves for the first time, and remembered how the rat had recognized him, even mentioned a "girl". Had he meant... Arya? Had he been the one who... "Wait..."

"Yes, it was your good friend Longclaw, the same who kidnapped me at the lake. He..." Thanatos chuckled dryly, "is something of an old friend." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"He killed... Arya? And he kidnapped you... before pining us against each other, most likely on purpose?" Henry pondered for a moment. "What in the world did you do to anger him so much he bore the grudge for over eight years?"

"I..." Thanatos sighed. "Arya and I, we were sent into battle against him back then. We were losing, but then we used a trick to lure his army to a cliff. We caused the floor to collapse and they all fell to their death. All, except for Longclaw."

An image of a similar scene flashed in Henry's mind... the floor had collapsed on an army of rats, back when he had fallen... _Go, go, go, go. Stand with your friends_ – The memory of Ripred's voice, sharp as a blade – the gnawer pushing him towards Gorger until he had tripped and fallen...

Angrily Henry shut his eyes. He did not want to remember that night, and yet Thanatos noticed his breaths were shaky now. "It was what happened when you fell too, wasn't it? I do not remember much from back then, but I do remember that. That, and your voice, screaming for your bond... who didn't come."

Henry nodded, face still buried in the flier's fur. "What... what did he do to Arya?"

"We..." Thanatos sighed, "I made the mistake to brag to him, hanging from a ledge, barely able to move, how we had defeated him. Arya had wanted to send him flying to his death, but I said... I said it was not necessary anymore, he would surely fall on his own soon." His voice was pained and Henry realized saying that was one of the biggest regrets Thanatos must be harboring.

"Turned out he was stronger than we had anticipated. A few weeks later he decided to have his revenge... He set a trap, and Arya and I walked right in."

An uneasy feeling started to rise in Henry's chest and he wrapped his arms around Thanatos even tighter.

"He... he and his henchmen overpowered us. He..." The flier was noticeably shaking now, "They restrained me in place, then Longclaw dragged Arya off my back. He said... he said I would watch her die like he had watched his men die because of us."

Henry was unable to speak, all he could do was listen in horror.

"He... he dragged her over to a ledge and... and pushed her down. She... she fought him valiantly but she... she was not strong enough and I..." Thanatos was stuttering now, "I... I was not either. I tried to free myself from the rats' grasp, I really did – I nearly dislocated my wing in an attempt to break free, but I couldn't... I couldn't... they were four rats holding me and they were... stronger..."

Henry heard him take a breath, trembling from distress and trauma. "I did wiggle free at last – Longclaw tried to slash at me, he... he is who I have to thank for the scar on my face."

Henry eyed the flier from the corner of his eye. The scar told of a terrible injury, it tore Thanatos' face in half in an angry gash, not unlike Ripred's scar.

"I... I dove after Arya as soon as I was free, but... it was too late. All I could do was watch her body shatter at the bottom of the cliff." Thanatos was heaving now, "I... I can still hear her screaming my name in my dreams. It will haunt me until I die... I... I could not return to Regalia after that. Longclaw tried to kill me when I came back up, but I would not give him the satisfaction. I fought back and – that scar on his chest, it... it was me who made it. I thought the wound would do him in for good, but apparently, he is not as easy to kill as all of us would like."

Henry remembered the gash across Longclaw's chest all too well. His head was spinning now and he pressed his face into Thanatos' fur to suppress his own urge to cry, that overcame him, all of a sudden. "I... I am so... sorry, I did not..."

"You could not have known. It's... it's alright." Thanatos attempted to sound comforting while Henry knew it was the flier who needed comfort more.

"That is... why you saved me... is it not?" The realization suddenly hit Henry. "It... you saw... her, not me..."

"You... you were falling, screaming for your bond who had abandoned you. It was like..." Thanatos hesitated, "It was like my second chance. My chance to save the one falling. I did not care about who you were or what you had done, but I could not watch another fall to their death like she had before my eyes."

They lied, nestled together, for what felt like an eternity. Henry's thoughts were reeling, he was still trying to wrap his head around the story Thanatos had told him. It made perfect sense why he had hesitated to tell it before, and Henry felt bad now, for having pressured him.

"You told Hamnet because... because he understood your grief." Henry finally spoke, face still buried in Thanatos' fur.

"We mourn the same people. And we both left for the same reason. To... die." Thanatos replied. "I knew I could never go back and face everyone back in Regalia. I... I was not strong enough to bear the news of Arya's death. I knew it was a cowardly move, but I... I couldn't."

"No, I understand." Henry thought about how he himself hadn't been able to face the nibblers after Thanatos had left.

"I contemplated killing myself then and there", the flier continued, "I was really close to doing it, but then... I just couldn't bring myself to. I thought nothing could be a better punishment for my own failure then what is custom for betraying your bond... exile. So I decided to stay... in the Dead Land and wait for something to finally put me out of my misery. Because that was what I was doing... for seven years, until you came along. Running away from my past and hiding from my own shame."

"Nothing left to live for, yet no reason to die either", Henry mumbled, remembering the numbness that had engulfed him for four months.

Thanatos made a surprised noise and Henry, after a moment of hesitation, described the feelings he had had to deal with over the course of the last months.

"You tasted what it was like, then. I wish you wouldn't have had to, but... that was it, that was what it felt like. I was... essentially dead inside, just waiting for my life to end. No fears, no desires, no attachments... no hope. And then... then you came. And you... you needed me. Suddenly... suddenly there was... something to live for again."

Henry smiled. "I'm glad I was able to save you as much as you saved me then. But please do not assume you are worth any less than me." He remembered what Thanatos had said when he had refused to take his hand at the lake. "You are not lost."

For the first time, Henry let go of Thanatos and sat up, looking directly at him. "You are worth as much as I am, and as long as there is hope for me, there is hope for you. You've been through terrible things, there is no denying that, but look at you now – you have friends, a new bond... you were lost, but you were also found. If you need me to give you hope, that's what I will do. It's what bonds are for."

Rarely ever Henry had experienced the flier speechless, but now was one of those moments. "Y... you... you truly believe that?"

Henry had a feeling this was the first time in eight years that Thanatos had had hope not just for Henry, but also himself.

"Remember my words, and whenever you despair, think of them. I refuse to lose you like I lost everything else that I ever held dear, and I will do anything in my power to be there for you. Always. You are... my best friend, my brother... and no matter what life throws at us, we'll pull through – and we'll do it together." Henry was, for the first time in forever, absolutely certain about his words.

Thanatos hesitated, then he smiled. "I'll hold you to that, then, baby brother." He received a hefty nudge in the side for that, but in the end, they both ended on the floor, laughing their hides off.

After they had calmed down, Henry lied, head against Thanatos' back, again. Then, for the first time, the flier asked for Henry's own story. The exiled prince remembered he had heard bits and pieces of it from the rats, soon after he had saved him, but he realized as little as Thanatos had talked about his past, Henry had about his own.

He told the flier everything. From his panic attacks after his parents had died, over the difficulties of growing up without them, about his family – Luxa and Nerissa – and his former bond Ares, finally moving to his first encounter with Tonguetwist and how she had distorted his views on the rats and their relationship with the humans.

He then talked about his own doubts, but finally, the decision he had made to side with Gorger, and how the king had thanked him for it.

"I know my story is not nearly as sad as yours, as I dug my own grave by siding with the rats, and in truth, you should not feel any sympathy for me because of it – but I want you to know nonetheless. Judge me if you like, tell me I was stupid and a traitor who deserved what he got – I really do not care. I just... want you to know." Henry realized his eyes had filled with tears over the course of saying that.

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "Do not say that, please do not. It is true that what you did was wrong, but you did not deserve what you got. Not by a long shot. Because, as bad as it was, the most important thing is, you regret it – and you actively seek a way to make up for it. In your own eyes as much as in the eyes of the people you betrayed, which is so much more than anything I ever did over the course of the seven years before I met you."

Henry bit his lip. "It's not like it matters though. They – especially Luxa – will never forgive me. All I can hope is, for them to never find out I'm even... alive." A single tear escaped his eye and Henry wiped it away angrily. He did not want to cry now, not because of something so... pointless.

"The thing with betrayal is... the closer the people that betray us are to us, the more it hurts... and the more difficult it is to forgive." Thanatos' voice was soothing. "But do not write anything off. The future is unknown... who knows what it holds. After all, from what I remember Luxa herself condemned the Death Rider to leave, back on the waterway, while seeking his help in the jungle. If she can come around to accepting an unknown outcast, who says there is no hope for Henry?"

The exiled prince remained silent. In truth, he had told himself there was no hope because he did not want to believe and then be disappointed.

"And besides", Thanatos continued, "Mistakes are always good for a lesson. And imagine what would have happened if you hadn't made this particular one – you would have continued locking yourself in your own golden cage, blind to the world, with a bond you did not trust anymore. You would never have learned any of the things exile taught you, I mean, look at yourself now – you have achieved incredible things, have you not? You learned to see in the dark, to speak another tongue, to survive on your own... you even became one of the strongest fighters most likely ever known to the humans... and you have...", he hesitated, unsure whether he should say this last thing, "... you have found me... for what it's worth. And if you hadn't found me... I... I would most likely be dead now."

Thanatos' words were followed by a long silence in which Henry contemplated what he had said, and his own future. He knew he would always do everything he could... if there even was anything... to help Luxa and the others, and possibly one day win their trust back.

Anything.

About an hour later, Kismet poked her head into the cave, telling them she had been out fishing and asking if they wanted any. The three of them ended up around a campfire together, sharing a meal of grilled fish, around ten minutes later.

Henry was chewing on a piece, thinking about how much better it was then the Firebeetles, and staring at Thanatos' scar that split his face, and the story his bond had told him today.

"You know what... Longclaw needs to be taught a lesson." He raised his voice finally and both Thanatos and Kismet looked at him, surprised.

"After what he did to Arya... and to you, over the last four months... I can not believe you have not sought out and tried to kill him yet yourself."

"Longclaw? Is he still breathing?" Kismet's voice sounded hoarse, "Well, someone urgently needs to fix that."

"That's what I've been saying!" Henry exclaimed. "We can not simply let him walk away after having caused so much misery. Don't you agree?"

Henry saw in Thanatos' face that he had long given up on ever getting back at Longclaw. "You... you would do that... for me?"

Henry suppressed the urge to roll his eye. "Did you not listen to what I told you earlier? I'd go to the ends of the earth and back for you. And besides, I have my own reasons to hate him. He pinned us against each other on purpose – I am certain of it. He probably only suggested I should become a champion to have me face you eventually."

Kismet's eyes showed curiosity, and, after exchanging a glance with Thanatos, Henry finally told her how he had met the flier in the arena, under Longclaw's control, and how they had almost killed each other.

She shook her head. "The bastard needs to finally die. If you go and kill him, you'd be doing the world a huge favor. Just... promise me you'll make it painful, kay?"

Thanatos and Henry exchanged glances again. "If you are willing to do this, I am with you", the flier finally said, and Henry threw him a crooked smile. "Let's go get him."


	16. Confrontation

"And you're sure you know where you're going?" Kismet was standing in the entrance of her cave and watching Thanatos and Henry as they got ready to leave.

About two weeks had passed since they had arrived and disclosed they wanted to go hunt for Longclaw, and in those weeks, Kismet had made it her personal goal to prepare them as well as she could for the task.

Thanatos and Henry had taken to training together, and – under Kismet's guidance – their ability to fight as a team had improved considerably. Especially when it came to predicting and sensing the other's intentions without losing precious time by having to say them out loud.

Multiple times Henry had considered bringing up his new invention idea to Thanatos, but every time he had hesitated, thinking he should first show it to Teslas and talk to the flier afterward, together. It wasn't like he had the materials or means to make it right now anyway. The promise of no secrets gnawed at him, but he kept telling himself he would tell Thanatos soon, just not now – and not without support. The risk of the flier not even finishing listening and yelling at Henry for being "disrespectful" was much too high and he had no desire to deal with any of that at the moment.

Kismet had also spent some time telling them more about Longclaw himself, apparently, the two had known each other a long time ago, and she spent most evenings telling them stories she remembered from their past.

That and, lessons in rat tongue – she had had offered to teach Henry her language back when he first arrived, but he had dismissed it as "not why he was here". When she brought up it could be useful when spying on him though, Henry had reluctantly agreed.

Rat turned out similar enough to nibbler, so that he found himself picking it up fairly quickly. At the end of the two weeks, he understood everything and was able to communicate back well enough that Kismet was pleased.

Now, both Henry's and Thanatos' injuries were healed to the point where they were confident enough to seek actual battle again. They wanted to see the nibblers before starting their hunt for Longclaw, but had decided to go back into the ice caves first. They lied on the way and they hoped to pick up a trail to follow later, as the leader of the gnawers hadn't been to his own arena ever since Thanatos had fled, according to Dustfur.

When they had told Kismet what they'd witnessed the rats doing down there, during their first visit, she had expressed great worry. After fetching a map of the Underland – which she had allowed Henry to keep after a little toing and froing, it was now safely stored in his waterproof container – she had asked where exactly they thought that cave had been.

Turned out it had been closer to Regalia than they had first believed, and both the flier and the exiled prince had agreed they wouldn't just seek Longclaw's trail when going back, but also try to find out what exactly he had been doing down there, so close to the human city.

"We are ready", Henry answered in rat, grinning at Kismet, standing at the entrance to her cave. She grinned back. "Do not forget your training, boy – and do not let that bastard kick your ass. He does not deserve the satisfaction."

"We know", Thanatos responded while his bond was in the process of filling the bags he was wearing with supplies.

"And never make the mistake to believe yourself invincible!" Kismet shouted after a short period of silence and Henry, after turning away from her, rolled his eyes. "I won't, promise."

"You won't promise – or you promise you won't?" She asked and the exiled prince grinned. "PICK ONE!"

"That's not now that works, boy!" Henry only laughed at her annoyed tone.

"And do not forget you are going to a place with the name "ice caves" – you have packed your second coat, haven't you?"

Henry groaned. "Look", he turned around to her, "I appreciate the advice, I really do – but I can take care of myself now." He thought back to how helpless he had felt, on the crawler island, after losing his eye, and that his prediction had turned out correct – this second rock bottom hadn't kept him down for long either.

"And who do you have to thank for that?", she snarled, and Henry laughed – "Myself, of course!"

He felt Thanatos hit him with one of his claws, and continued, still chuckling – "and you, I'm not forgetting you, of course, I am not."

"As you shouldn't", Kismet grinned.

Henry stared at the scarred gnawer who had become so familiar over the course of the last... what? Seven, eight months? "I'll be fine. I'm a survivor, remember? You said that yourself! As well as how I was totally fine on my own, remember – you told it to my face I was good without your help, and that I should leave you alone – for the sake of your sweet solitude!"

They both laughed and Henry was certain she had vivid memories of their first encounter like he did. He had been so intimidated back then, yet determined to show her he was worthy. And now he possessed the same abilities that had impressed him so much, back then.

"And still a self-centered, conceited brat. But yes... you are a survivor – pup. As little as I want to admit this... you were a worthy student, Henry of Regalia. I do not regret taking you in", she snarled. "Never forget that, you hear?"

"I won't forget it. And I won't forget you either." Henry smiled. A worthy student – this was most likely the biggest compliment he could ever expect from her.

"We both won't!" Thanatos called, and Henry's smile widened while mounting up, after having finished packing – "We'll see each other again someday, surely. And we'll make sure to tell your sweetheart Ripred that he is on your mind always, when we see him again!"

Kismet growled angrily – "DO NOT DARE SAY ANYTHING OF THE SORT! We – Ripred and I were NEVER ANYTHING LIKE THAT!"

"Well, if you say so..." Henry pondered for a second. He eyed her and suddenly realized he still knew next to nothing about her past – her connection to Ripred, to the Garden of the Hesperides, if she was indeed related to the former champion Sizzleblood, and why she lived out here, almost as far away from the rats' land as possible. Yet he had a feeling he would have plenty of opportunities to find out in the future.

In a fit of affection towards Kismet, who had become such a close friend over the course of the last half a year, Henry slid off Thanatos' back again and wrapped his arms around her for a hug, one last time.

He had managed to catch her by surprise again, and when she angrily hissed at him, screaming "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!" He was already in a safe distance, and then on the flier's back.

"AND I TOLD YOU WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" Henry called, still grinning, while Thanatos already lifted off.

"RUN LIKE THE RIVER, KISMET!" He screamed, and when he already thought he wouldn't get any response again, he finally heard her call – "Fly you high, pup!"

Thanatos started chuckling and Henry flicked at his ear. "Do not even start. Do. Not."

This time they left Kismet's lair following a different way than the Path of Styx, which only led to the citadel and the Dead Land behind it, and was not their destination now. It took them around half a day to get back to where they had found Longclaw and his followers last time. The cave they had flooded back then, stood half underwater now, and not a single rat was in view.

Henry and Thanatos decided to rest a little on top of a ledge, that lied above water level, eat, and finally traverse through the wall of ice the gnawers had broken through last time. It was a little awkward, for both of them, to be here again – here, where their argument had started.

"I'm sorry for everything I said...", Henry muttered, but the flier shushed him. "It was me who called you a traitor again. Worse, I made you believe I didn't trust you because of it. Do not even for a second think there is even an ounce of truth in that."

Henry threw him a glance. "It's not like I could actually blame you, were it true, though."

"Henry stop – don't say things like that. We both know I do trust you, as I hope you trust me. I... I should be ashamed for claiming I meant what I told Hamnet. It was lies, all of it, I hope you can forgive me."

"Hey", Henry threw him a smile, "of course I trust you. And... no big deal, okay? I shouldn't have made as much of a drama out of it as I did either. Especially now that I know you had a good reason hesitating to talk about it."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while after that, eating their meal and watching the light of the torch flicker on the walls around them.

"Ready to go?" Thanatos asked after presumably half an hour and Henry nodded. "Let's find out what's going on here. And then, to the nibblers. I can not wait for Teslas to see this rock finally." And ask him about my new invention idea, Henry thought – and smiled.

They flew through the broken wall of ice into new territory, Henry had extinguished the torch to not give away their position and only their echolocation guided them on their way through the icy tunnels now.

The sound of rushing water, that was still flooding the caves they traversed, was their constant companion, and loud enough to allow Henry to perceive his surroundings fairly well.

When they first heard living creatures, they had already flown for around an hour. Both Henry and Thanatos recognized the noises and voices of rats and the flier immediately dove into the shade of the ceiling to avoid being spotted. He soon landed on a ledge near the top of the cave from where they had a decent view on the three rats below.

"Do you really think they will come? After we nearly drowned them last time?" One of them sounded, they were standing on a narrow ledge that led along the wall of the cave, above water, and Henry thought they must be talking about him and Thanatos.

"You mean after Longclaw forced us to nearly drown ourselves with them?" A different voice sounded, this one was slightly higher pitched and Henry suspected it was a female. "The guy is utterly crazy if you ask me."

"Ohhh but he knows what he is doing... determined men are so my type!" An even higher-pitched voice sounded, quickly followed by a shriek. Apparently one of the other rats had punched her.

"Get a grip, Silverspine, that is not why we are following him!" The other female sounded again. "Speak for yourself", Silverspine answered and the other two growled at her.

"Arrghh, if I could just SMELL properly among all this ice – it is too watery, too... all-consuming... I swear I wouldn't be able to tell if they were flying above our heads this moment!", the male groaned after a short silence. "And besides, why are we supposed to care if they come or not – quite the opposite. If they stay away, we'll have a nice, calm day out here, so be happy!"

Thanatos and Henry exchanged glances and grinned. Good for you, the exiled prince thought. That moment, he wished he had a way to communicate with Thanatos without speaking – and drawing the attention of the rats. Maybe I should work something out for that soon, Henry thought.

For the time being, he leaned over to the flier and whispered in his ear, as quietly as he could – "We should leave them unharmed and follow them when they go back to report to Longclaw." Thanatos nodded, and they stayed on their ledge, trying not to die of boredom while listening to the rats below bickering with each other.

After more than three hours of scouting, the guards finally left their post to go back to their leader. Not a single piece of useful information had the two spies gathered from their conversations, only nonsensical chitchat.

Henry and Thanatos followed them through the icy caves for maybe ten minutes, always staying as close to the ceiling as they could. Though the rats were so occupied with their own conversation that Henry pondered whether they would even take notice of them if they decided to fly directly before their noses.

Finally, they entered some sort of base camp, located in a cave with only a single entrance. One side of it was bordered by a steep cliff that led into what sounded like rushing water.

The flier and human decided to not try their luck with the heavily guarded tunnel entry but find a way around to enter from the side with the cliff. It took them another half an hour but finally, Thanatos found his way around to that side.

There was but one problem – the walls in the cave were steep and smooth, no ledges to land on. Luckily it was fairly high and the ceiling provided shadow to hide in, but Thanatos could not stay up in the air forever without landing, and the risk of being spotted was high.

They had just circled around the cave once, in search of a landing spot, when they realized they had pushed their luck too much. As soon as the first rat spotted them and screamed "INTRUDERS!", they were lost.

Every single rat in the cave was at their tail immediately, Thanatos tried to escape the way they came, but one of the rats was clever enough to claw his way up the icy wall maybe ten feet and jump at them from there. The flier screamed when the rat's claws dug into his leg and he lost altitude, being dragged down by the additional weight, immediately.

As soon as they were within the rats' jumping height, they were instantly swarmed from all sides. Henry tried fighting them off with his sword but soon, a whipping tail knocked it out of his hand and multiple rats dragged him off Thanatos' back.

He heard his flier's screams – five rats were necessary to hold him in place, they tore at his wings until they almost dislocated and one of them sliced a huge gash into his chest. The ice around them soon started turning red from Thanatos' blood.

Henry was being restrained by two rats and even though he struggled, kicked and screamed at them, his attempts at breaking free were futile. They were much stronger than he, and all Henry could do was helplessly watch them torment his flier.

One of the rats, that was holding him, slashed across his cheek and Henry felt two claw marks on his face burning like fire. It did nothing to silence him though, his screaming only intensified, until one of the rats apparently had enough. He felt something heavy hit him over the head and moments later everything went black.

The first thing Henry noticed when he came to was a voice – one that sounded very familiar. At first, he was too dazed to understand words, but when he opened his eyes, he instantly recognized the brown fur and the huge scar across the chest of the gnawer in front of him.

"Look who we have here now. It's good to see you – champion... or is it perhaps inappropriate to call you that, as you are my prisoner now?" Longclaw sounded hoarse laughter and Henry tried to move his head in search of Thanatos.

"In case you are looking for your flier, he is over there. You know, you should really have finished him off in the arena when you had the chance. That would have been so much more merciful than what I am planning to do to him now."

Henry coughed, trying to make the world around him stop spinning. When his vision became clearer again, the scene before him, illuminated by the faint glow of the water and supplemented by his echolocation, filled him with utter horror.

Thanatos was still held in place by three of Longclaw's followers, even if Henry was certain in his current state, one would be enough too. He was lying on his stomach, amber eyes half-closed and misted with pain. Countless fresh gashes covered his back and stomach, the biggest one almost the length of Henry's arm. It bled heavily and at this point, the flier was lying in a puddle of his own blood.

His breaths were shallow and shaky and one of his wings was lying on the floor, part of it bent in an unnatural direction – clearly broken. The tissue around that part was torn, Henry saw claw marks in the formerly beautiful silky black material the wings were made of.

"What have YOU DONE TO HIM?!" Henry screamed, trying to get up from where he was lying, but one of the rats was sitting on him and he couldn't move an inch. He desperately reached out to Thanatos, trying to at least let him know he was still here, and the flier slightly raised one of his claws, pointing it in his direction, to signal he had understood.

"Aww... how touching. Sadly, I can not let this little reunion last for much longer." Longclaw's voice was cold as ice.

"What... what has he ever done to you?" Henry tried to sound angry, but with the rat on his back, he had trouble even breathing, let alone talking, and the words he managed to squeeze out now were barely audible.

Longclaw hissed. "What has he... did he not tell you?"

"He told me he defeated you in battle... using a trick to make the floor collapse." Henry desperately gasped for air.

"Kettle, let him breathe, will you? He still has a purpose to serve", Longclaw's voice sounded annoyed and Henry felt the rat on his back move away, keeping a paw on him though.

The exiled prince caught his breath for the first time, and after his coughing fit had ended, Longclaw started talking again. "He made the floor collapse... oh he sure did, he told you that. But did he also tell you –" The leader of the gnawers was now standing directly in front of Henry, and grabbed onto the back of his vest, "that he killed my son – with his own bloody claws? He would not have fallen unless your precious flier over there hadn't grabbed and tossed him down!"

Henry threw Thanatos a glance, from what he saw the flier looked as surprised as the exiled prince. "I'm sure he did not do it on purpose! He probably had no idea who the rats he killed were!" Henry defended him, and suddenly the flier himself spoke up, his voice hoarse and strained from pain. "I did not... he was your..."

"Ohh, of course, you did not –", his voice was dripping with sarcasm, "He was barely more than a pup! Not much different from you", he glanced at Henry, "and like I watched my son die, he will watch you die now."

Panic gripped Henry's throat. The rat was holding him up now, his feet dangling over the floor. "Was it not enough TO KILL ARYA?!" Henry screamed, trying to dig his nails into the paw that was holding him.

"The girl? The girl was a start – but I will not rest until the flier is broken beyond repair, you hear? I attempted to break him myself, but then you... YOU undid all the work I had done on him. Apparently, his connection to you is keeping him sane, so I will have to kill you first. Nothing personal, kid, really – you were a fine champion actually, it'll be a shame to lose you. I doubt anyone will ever draw the crowds to my arena like you have... but oh well, you do what you have to do."

Henry glanced at Thanatos, naked fear and desperation now shone in his eyes as he helplessly watched Longclaw carry Henry over to the cliff.

"First, I'll have my revenge on the flier, and then – then I'll decimate your entire species. Once I've taken care of that, the gnawers will pronounce me king, like they should have so long ago, not that weakling Gorger!"

"What... what are you talking about?" Henry furrowed his brows as well as he could, in Longclaw's grip.

"Oh well, as you are about to die anyway, you might as well know." He grinned, "These tunnels here lead right up to the river that feeds your city with water, and the canalization system you humans dug. If we tear down a few more walls and flood it with the water from the waterway – your entire city will be submerged, making you easy prey for an attacking army of gnawers. And my followers here are ready as ever to strike."

Henry froze in shock – that... that was what they were doing! They planned on flooding Regalia. A hundred thoughts reeled in his mind at once, he had to break away from Longclaw, free Thanatos, get out of here and find a way to warn the humans – as quickly as he could. But then he glanced over to his flier and realized it was futile anyway – even if he could magically make the rats on top of him disappear, Thanatos would never be able to fly in this state.

Longclaw laughed, holding Henry even higher. He was now hanging maybe three feet above the floor and slowly but surely the leader of the gnawers was inching closer to the cliff that he sought to throw him down from.

Henry glanced down and shuddered. The foaming water below was over a hundred feet away and icebergs and spikes pierced the surface, waiting to impale him on impact.

"Look closely now, flier – this is the last you will see of the boy, after all!" Longclaw mocked, holding Henry over the edge now.

The exiled prince glanced back at Thanatos, saw the desperation in his eyes and suddenly knew he could not allow the rat to do this. Panic gripped his heart when he realized this was going to be a repeat of Arya's death. Thanatos restrained in place, forced to watch his bond being flung off a cliff.

Henry's breaths were shaky, his mind reeling – he could not let his flier go through the same pain again, even if he himself ended up surviving the fall. He could not... let that happen. He could not.

_Do not let that bastard kick your ass. He does not deserve the satisfaction._ Henry heard Kismet's voice in his head and gritted his teeth. I have to find a way to make him release his grip, he thought, but first, he has to move away from the cliff.

Henry's mind flew back to his training with Kismet, had she truly never mentioned something that could help him now?

Longclaw now swung him over solid ground again, and Henry realized he would not get a better chance. He used the momentum from the motion to ram his foot into Longclaw's armpit. _Go for the joints,_ Kismet's voice rang in his ears, _if you can not reach the face._

The leader of the rats let out a high-pitched scream of pain and let go off Henry. His claws tore the back of his vest but the exiled prince didn't care. As soon as he hit the floor, he rolled off towards his sword and backpack, that were lying maybe ten feet away. But Longclaw's companions didn't have the intention to stand idly and let him escape.

He saw two of the ones, who had held Thanatos in place, zoom in on him immediately, most likely to drag him over to the flier and hold them together, but then their attention was diverted by something.

Henry closed his hand around the handle of his sword when he heard a desperate scream that – if he had heard correctly – sounded like... Thanatos. His head jolted around only to watch in helpless shock how the flier, having mobilized his last strength, most likely, leaped up, breaking free from the last gnawer who held him. But instead of flying at Henry, he closed in on Longclaw, who had his attention focused on the escaped exiled prince, and reacted too slowly when the flier reached him.

Thanatos rammed his head into Longclaw's side and the gnawer stood so close to the cliff, that it was enough to send him flying over the edge. But Longclaw was not defeated so easily, Henry watched how he dug a claw into Thanatos' foot, in a desperate attempt to at least take the flier with him as he fell.

Like in slow motion Henry saw the rat drag his bond over the edge of the cliff until they both disappeared out of view. The exiled prince screamed and leaped up, but when he reached the edge, all he could do was watch the two plummet into the foaming waves.

Henry knew what he had to do the moment he saw Thanatos' head disappear in the water. He gripped the straps of his backpack firmly, having no time to sheath his sword, before leaping over the edge after them, escaping the claws of countless rats that had already extended in his direction, threatening to grab him, into the dark and violently roaring water beneath.

Henry was an expert swimmer, but now he felt like a paper boat in a violent, ice-cold stream when he hit the water. His head was bobbing up and down and he could barely orientate himself. His sword, still in his right hand, was not helping either, the metal was heavy and Henry almost let it go, before he realized he could use it to keep himself over the water.

With as much force as his weakened and disoriented state had left him, he thrust the blade into the wall of ice, above his head. He gripped the handle with both hands when he realized it was firmly stuck, and lifted himself as far out of the water as he could, taking a deep breath.

Then, the blade moved. Henry almost let go of the handle in shock, when he realized it was not the sword itself that had given way – it was the wall. He looked up and saw that, when thrusting the blade into the ice, he had created a split, that now grew into a massive crack. The wall sounded a loud creak when more splits appeared. Henry realized in shock that the ice was about to collapse. From above his head, he heard the screams of rats now, and thought the cave they had had their camp in must be in the process of falling apart now.

With the last of his strength, he freed his sword from the ice, which had been the last straw. A huge piece of ice broke away from the wall and fell into the water behind him, causing a flood that swamped Henry out of the cave entirely.

He was violently thrown around by the current and he feared the icy water would make him pass out and drown when he was suddenly swamped out into a huge cave, entirely filled with water.

Henry was about to lose consciousness from the cold, when a pleasantly warm current suddenly engulfed him, carrying him forward. He meekly tried to swim and keep his head above water, when he suddenly heard noise, somewhere in front of him.

Henry tried his best to paddle towards the sound without dropping his sword and saw the bobbing head of Longclaw and... Thanatos. The flier was barely conscious, and the gnawer tried to hold on to him in order to not drown. Henry used the current to propel himself towards the two, when he reached them, he raised his sword, thrusting it into Longclaw's side.

The rat cried in pain and released the flier, Henry opened his arms when he was about to collide with Thanatos, and wrapped them around his neck, as soon as he reached him.

The flier's eyes were closed, his lids fluttered when Henry grabbed onto him, but they did not open. Henry tried keeping them above water with one hand, the other firmly holding Thanatos and his sword, but had the current not been as strong as it was, he would not have made it.

In the distance, he saw Longclaw grabbing hold of a floating piece of ice that was carried into a different direction, he could hear the rat's curses as he floated away from them. They would have to deal with him another day, Henry meekly thought.

Then, another loud cracking sound tore the silence and a second tidal wave hit Henry and Thanatos, carrying them further away from where they had come from. The exiled prince barely realized the rest of the ice cave must have collapsed and caused the wave before all his attention was taken up with keeping himself and his flier above water again.

We must surely be out in the waterway now, Henry thought, catching a glimpse at the ginormous cave they were in – and the endless seeming water all around them. The same warm current as before still flowed around them, and all Henry could really do was hold on to Thanatos and let it carry them.

The exiled prince had no idea how long he had drifted through the waterway, clinging to the limp body of Thanatos. They were carried along and kept above water by the current, if Henry were to guess, he'd say around an hour passed, before he finally saw land.

When he could feel ground beneath his feet again at last, and they were carried through a river-like passageway further into the mainland, before finally being washed up on a rocky shore, Henry felt he had not a single ounce of strength remaining in his body. All he wanted to do was lie, face pressed against the ground, thanking the universe they had reached dry land, but when he slowly raised his head for the first time and realized where they were, he instantly knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Around them now sprouted the familiar glowing vines, that Henry knew perfectly well at this point, that marked the territory taken up by the Underland-jungle.


	17. Jungle

Henry's mind was reeling. He knew he had to get up, reach Thanatos, check if he was okay, and find a way out of here, to a safer place, but he didn't have the strength.

He had no idea how long he lied on the beach, listening to the chirrups of the jungle when the sounds suddenly changed. What had formerly been almost calming, passive background noise, suddenly turned into angry hissing.

Henry's head jolted up. Only thanks to his echolocation he made out the body of a snake, around the length of his entire body, that blended in with the background vines so well, only its sounds gave it away.

The exiled prince looked around because he thought he heard the noise of another twister and found himself dodging the bared teeth of one in the last second.

Two more started making their way towards them, including the first one Henry had spotted, and he instantly knew they couldn't stay here.

With the strength adrenaline gave him, Henry rose to his feet and grabbed his backpack and sword. He focused on the hissing of the twisters and twirled around, slicing the head off the one that had risen behind him with perfect precision.

He cut a second one in half, and severed the head of a third one, but more were on their way, and while Henry thought he could have taken them at his full strength, his head was already starting to spin and hurt from focusing after the ordeals he had gone through before.

He stumbled towards the figure of Thanatos, lying several feet away, and got there just in time to cut one of the snakes in half, that had attempted to dig its teeth into the neck of his bond.

Henry violently swung his sword behind him, killing three more twisters that had approached from there, granting himself a breather. He knelt down beside Thanatos and was immensely relieved to find his bond even half-conscious, staring blankly at his surroundings, and at Henry.

"Death, we need to move!" He shouted, slicing two more snakes. "The twisters will eat us if we don't find somewhere to hide! I can not fight them in this state, you have to get up!"

Thanatos did not seem like he had the strength to rise, or even answer. His wing still stood in an unnatural direction, his eyes fell close and a wave of panic engulfed Henry. I can not leave him, he thought and realized there was only one way.

In a last attempt to get the snakes off his back for a while, he imitated Ripred again and started spinning around, sword held vertically. Maybe four or five of the twisters fell victim to his attack, which was enough to gain valuable minutes.

While the replacements for the ones he had killed were still on their way, Henry sheathed his sword and grabbed Thanatos' claws. The flier groaned in pain when his bond tugged at the broken wing, but he had no choice.

With the last of his strength, Henry managed to load Thanatos' body on his back, his feet were still dragging behind the exiled prince but that was just how it would be. The flier's head was hanging over his shoulder and for a second, his amber eyes opened, looking at Henry confused, but soon fell shut again.

Henry drew his sword, holding Thanatos in place as well as he could, and sliced at a few twisters ahead. He prayed none of them would get the flier from behind as he slowly but surely made his way away from the river, deeper between the vines.

Though here, he was even less sure of what was a snake, and what a plant. Henry desperately looked for a place to hide in – one that would not eat them instantly, preferably. Stone... I need a cave of some sort, he thought, trying to prevent Thanatos from sliding off his back and ward off the snakes at the same time.

He had no idea how long he had stumbled through the jungle, it had maybe been ten minutes or so. The twisters had given up the attack soon after he had left the river area and now all Henry wanted was a safe place to rest, and tend to their wounds. He would need to set the bone in Thanatos' wing straight soon, or it would leave permanent damage, he thought, and panted heavily from the strain of battle, the heat that now engulfed him, and from the flier's non-negligible weight on his back.

When he finally saw the grey of stone in the distance and realized it was a cave entrance, Henry could have screamed in joy. He dragged himself and Thanatos forward, towards it, and saw it was almost entirely concealed behind a curtain of vines covering the entrance. He pushed the plants aside and was among stone walls again. The air in here was cooler, most likely from the stones, and maybe ten feet in, Henry finally dared drop Thanatos on the floor, collapsing beside him instantly.

All, the exiled prince wanted, was to stay on the ground and let sleep take him over, but he knew he couldn't. First, he had to make sure his flier was alright.

Henry raised his head, powered only by determination at this point. He managed to rise into a sitting position and dragged himself over to Thanatos, noticing the flier's eyes were closed now.

"Death? Death, can you hear me?" Thanatos didn't react, and a wave of fear hit Henry.

"Death!" He reached for his bond, collapsing over him from weakness. "Death, you need to speak to me... I need to... to... bandage your wounds... and set the bone straight... but you need to speak to me first..."

Thanatos' eyelids fluttered, before they opened a little. He let out a groaning sound, and Henry wanted to cry of joy that his bond was still with him, still awake and conscious.

"Death, I know you want to sleep, me too, buddy, okay... I... I have a painkiller for you. Take it and sleep, but only if you promise you'll wake up again..." He smiled, remembering what the flier had told him, back when he had lost his eye, "Like I woke up, after we bonded, remember?"

"Of course I remember..." Thanatos' voice was hoarse and quiet, but he was speaking. Henry buried his face in his fur, crusted with blood now, for a moment, before reaching for his backpack.

With limp fingers, he fetched his waterproof container and took out the kit with medical supplies. He picked out a bottle with painkiller and showed it to Thanatos. "It will help you sleep, okay? And I'll keep watch... I'll... I'll stitch you up and I'll keep watch."

Henry had no idea how he was supposed to keep his eyes open for a second longer than he needed to, but he was determined to prioritize Thanatos for the moment.

The flier eyed him, then the bottle, but finally agreed to take a sip, when Henry opened it and held it to his mouth. The exiled prince wondered how bad his pain must be for him to actually drink it with so little protest.

Within a few minutes he was out and Henry inspected his injuries, starting to understand why he had taken the painkiller immediately. His wing was broken, it stood off in an unnatural angle, and it took Henry some effort to put it back into the position it belonged. It made him almost glad Thanatos was unconscious now, as he was certain it would have hurt beyond belief otherwise.

Henry strapped a piece of bone he found deeper in the cave to the broken part, using the string he had packed, as a splint. Then he took to cleaning the rips in his wings and the wounds on his body, from countless claws of rats, as well as he could, using only the water he had packed, as there was no other. The bleeding had thankfully stopped on most of them now, though dragging the flier through the jungle, like he had, had not really helped any of his injuries.

Henry ended up sewing together five rips in his wings, and two of the worst cuts on his body, one along his chest, the other in the area of his neck.

When he had finally patched up the flier to the best of his abilities, Henry found his last strength, that the determination to save his bond's life had given him, leave his body and he collapsed, at last, face pressed into Thanatos' bloodstained fur.

I told him I'd keep watch... he thought, trying to keep his eyes open, but in vain. He had used up every single energy reserve in his body, and it shut down after only a few moments, letting the exiled prince slip into the dark oblivion of sleep.

Henry awoke from something nudging his side. He widened his eyes and jolted up from where he had slept, hunched over Thanatos.

"You told me you'd keep watch", a voice mocked, and Henry's gaze fell upon his bond, who was eyeing him from half-closed but sympathetic and almost mischievous eyes.

"Death – oh goodness I am so sorry, I did not mean to –", but the flier interrupted him, "Henry, forget it, I understand why you couldn't. You... you strained yourself enough for me."

Henry, infinitely glad the flier was not angry, collapsed back onto him. "I... I'm okay, don't mention it. It's not like you never did the same and more for me."

The exiled prince could feel Thanatos chuckle underneath him. "I am alright now. You... you did all this before you fell asleep? How long have we been sleeping, even? That painkiller knocked me out good..."

Henry rose up again, feeling stiff and bruised like never before. He looked down upon his own hands and realized they were smeared in blood – Thanatos', and his own.

He could feel the flier press his head into his side. "You patched me up, but not yourself... You need to clean your wounds, Henry, or they will become infected."

He realized Thanatos was right, so he proceeded to use the last of his water to clean the cuts on his arms, his stomach and the claw marks on his cheek. When Henry was done, he realized he had not a single drop of water left and knew he would have to go back to the river to get some.

"Death, you should rest, okay? I'll get water... and I'll look for food too." The exiled prince felt his stomach growl and knew tat Thanatos must be equally hungry. They had both not eaten since before they had encountered Longclaw.

"Be... be careful out there, okay?" Henry was not used to so much genuine worry in Thanatos' voice, but he smiled. "I'll be fine. I've taken worse before." He hadn't really, but there was no point in causing the flier any unnecessary worry now.

Henry was gone for maybe an hour, almost half of it he spent stumbling through the jungle, trying to find his way to the river and back to the cave. He filled both his water sacks and used Mys to catch five big fish before starting the trip back.

On his way, he discovered a path that led to a place that had the same vines Hamnet had plucked the plum-like fruit from, and he loaded his pack with them as well, before returning to the cave with Thanatos.

"I... I was starting to get worried..." Henry heard the pain in the flier's voice and saw, his eyes were now misted in pain. He realized the effect from the painkiller must have worn off entirely now, but when he offered Thanatos another sip, he refused. "I like my head clear, thank you."

They ate everything up within half an hour and drank up all their water too. Henry now understood why you should always make camp next to a river, it was a hassle going back and forth for fresh water.

"We'll need to move soon", Henry said, after they had finished their meal and he was lying, head leaned on Thanatos' back. "Find a better hideout and... orientate ourselves a little. I have no idea where we are..." The thought worried him greatly. They had never been to this part of the jungle before, at least not from what he recalled, and from what Henry knew about the jungle in general, it wasn't the best place to get lost in.

"You are right... and with that wing, I can not just proceed to fly over the waterway until we reach a more familiar area either." Thanatos sighed, "I don't think I can even move on my own now."

Henry sensed the thought scared him, and he calmingly stroke his fur. "You'll be fine... the wing will heal, and then you will fly again. But for now... you'll have to let me do the carrying, okay?"

"And how will you do that?" Thanatos asked, still visibly uncomfortable with the thought of not being able to move.

"I'll think of something." Henry grinned.

"Are you sure this will hold?" The flier skeptically eyed the construction Henry spent the last few hours making from vines and a few bones he had found in the cave.

"We won't know unless we try", the exiled prince grinned, shouldered his backpack and then grabbed the construction, signaling Thanatos to climb on. It was shaped like a sleigh with makeshift-skids and a surface to lie on, and Henry was sure it would be a bumpy ride, but it was the best he could do at the moment.

After some hesitation, Thanatos finally did as Henry told him, clinging to the borders firmly. "I really hope this works", his voice sounded cautious, and his bond kneeled down beside him for a second – "It will. Trust me, Death, okay? I know this is weird and scary and you are in pain, but we'll pull through – you took care of me so many times before, when I was hurt, now let me do the same thing for you."

The two exchanged a glance and Thanatos finally nodded, closing his eyes. "Alright. We'll... we'll pull through. I believe in you."

They made their way through the jungle for more than three hours, Henry was on the constant lookout for water. The ride for Thanatos was indeed bumpy and he was heavier than anticipated, but Henry refused to let that affect him. Yes, he was hot and his body ached from all the injuries, and the flier was heavy, but he could not allow himself to show weakness now.

He followed only his own sense of direction, essentially going in a random direction until he finally heard the familiar rushing of water. When he realized the sound came out of a cave system, similar to the one they had slept in earlier, he dragged Thanatos through the entrance and saw a small creek run along the wall.

He followed it deeper in and ended up at the shore of a broad river that bordered the tunnel, that was overgrown with vines almost to the point where they covered the walls and the floor around the river entirely, and Henry felt like walking on a carpet of living plants.

The feeling wasn't the most pleasant ever, but he decided it was fine, as long as they did not attempt to attack him. He finally allowed Thanatos to get off the construction and they quenched their thirst at the river.

"I should go look for food again, okay?" Henry said, after resting for a while. His stomach was growling, the physical strain from dragging the flier through the jungle had drained him, though he was proud his construction had held.

"Are there no fish in the river?" Thanatos' eyes were half-closed and Henry saw clearly he was on the brink of fainting from exhaustion again.

He glanced in and saw the water had fish, but they were only about the size of Henry's pinky and he'd have to catch a dozen to fill them up.

"I'll look for proper food, and then we eat and you can have more painkiller to sleep, okay?" He attempted to throw Thanatos a reassuring smile.

"No painkiller", the flier heaved now, "need to... keep head clear..."

Henry stroke his fur, trying to calm him. "Alright, if you say so... I won't force you, but if you need it, I have the bottle right here."

Thanatos opened his amber eyes for a second, throwing Henry a glance. "Don't... go... please..."

A wave of affection for his bond hit the exiled prince and he wrapped his arms around his neck for a second. How badly was he hurt, that he allowed himself to talk like this, he thought. "I won't be gone for long, I promise. But we need food, you must be hungry too!"

Thanatos nodded slightly, and Henry rose to his feet. "I truly mean it, I'll be back much sooner than last time." He glanced at the flier and decided to himself he'd do anything in his power to fulfill that promise.

Henry was out looking for food for maybe half an hour, he had one encounter with a four-foot-long frog that had flung his tongue at him, the exiled prince had been forced to finish him off.

He pondered if the meat was edible, but decided not to risk it. After a little more searching, heavily relying on his enhanced hearing, he finally found more water, this time with proper fish in it. He caught five again and made his way back to Thanatos. This time, he had taken care to mark his way back so that finding the cave again was no problem.

They ate, drank and then the flier fell back on the floor instantly, still drained from his injuries.

"You alright?" Henry sat down beside him, not bothering to fetch his fur blanket as it was terribly hot anyway.

"I... I'll be fine." He sounded not fine. Worry flooded Henry, he knew exactly how Thanatos sounded when he was fine, and this was not it. The heat and the pain must be a terrible combination, he thought, comfortingly pressing his face into his fur.

"Hey, I'm here... okay? We'll be fine. We just have to stay here until you feel better – we have water and I now know where there is food. Then we'll find the way to the nibbler colony, and we'll be fine."

He reached for his water sack and poured half of its content over his own head, the other over Thanatos. The cool of the water helped a little, but not much.

Henry tried not to show how scared he actually was. Now, lying here, in the dark, somewhere in an unknown part of the jungle, he realized how utterly desperate their situation actually was. They were in the middle of nowhere, with Thanatos who couldn't fly, and no idea even in which direction and how far away the colony was.

The situation reminded him of when he had been stranded alone on the crawler island, suddenly, for a moment the same fear engulfed him, that had kept him from sleeping back then. But then Henry felt Thanatos' fur against his back and realized things were much different now – because this time, they were together.

He was still frightened, but he decided he couldn't let it show. He needed to be hopeful... to be strong, for Thanatos. It was his turn now, to give the flier comfort, like he had so many times in the past done for Henry, and the exiled prince was determined to do so, to the best of his abilities.

For a while, all he could hear was Thanatos' breathing and the rushing of the water next to them. Then, the flier suddenly raised his voice – "I... what even happened, after we fell off that cliff? I... I don't remember exactly. All I know is that we were in the water, and that you dragged me away, and then... that cave."

Henry sighed, and started talking. He told him everything, how he had jumped after him and Longclaw, how the cave had collapsed, burying all of the rats along with their plan to flood Regalia, how the current had carried them to the shore here, and how he had battled the snakes and dragged Thanatos to safety. Henry realized his own memory of it was blurry, almost like everything had been a dream.

"You... saved my life", the flier finally whispered, and Henry smiled. "Like I would save mine."

He could have sworn he saw Thanatos smile, from the corner of his eye. "You... goodness, I am so sorry I even dragged you into this feud." The flier sighed and closed his eyes. "You... you have no place in it and you should not have to suffer from it. When I saw Longclaw holding you, threatening to throw you off that cliff... I... I thought I would... I..." he sounded so helpless, so desperate, like he was about to cry, and Henry scooted closer to him, despite the heat.

"Don't blame yourself, please", he tried to sound calming. "It is my feud now as it is yours, our lives are one, remember? And honestly, I don't really mind. We'll teach him a lesson eventually – he made a mistake, you know? The mistake to mess with us, and he'll pay... in due time."

Thanatos' voice was hoarse, "thank you... for everything. I would not have survived without you today."

"Well then I, at last, repaid you for saving me more times than any of us can count", Henry chuckled.

They proceeded to lie in comfortable silence, pressed against each other, despite the heat. They both needed the feeling of knowing they were not alone in this foreign and dangerous environment more than the temperature bothered them. And when sleep, at last, consumed Henry, he drifted away knowing Thanatos was there and would warn him of danger, as he would the flier.

Henry awoke joltingly, at first he did not know what had woken him up, but then he realized it was Thanatos, who was now cowering over him, eyes wide open, like in fear.

At first, Henry reached for his sword, convinced there was some sort of threat to fight, but then everything remained silent, and Thanatos moved away, trembling, as Henry noticed now.

"Hey, what... what happened?" He asked, still anxiously glancing around for possible threats. "Did you hear something?"

The flier did not respond, he averted his glance instead, almost as if he was ashamed for having woken Henry up. The exiled prince noticed he was still shaking, and recognized the signs instantly. He was still suffering from enough nightmares himself to know the feeling of waking up from one.

Henry tossed his sword aside and wrapped his arms around Thanatos' neck. Only now he noticed how much the flier was indeed trembling, and the exiled prince tried to sound as comforting and reassuring as possible – "Hey, hey... Death, I'm here, okay? It was a nightmare... wasn't it? You're okay, it was just a dream..."

Thanatos did not respond, and Henry kept talking, the same thing over and over, words he thought he would like to hear himself after waking up, shaking from fear. "I am not leaving, you hear? And if there is ever any real threat, my sword is right over there, that threat will soon feel threatened itself, as it should."

After more than ten minutes of lying in the same position, Thanatos finally spoke – "You... were gone. Vanished. I... I was looking... screaming for you... but you were gone. I... I was..."

"Scared you lost me?" Henry knew those dreams perfectly well, the fear of waking up, realizing he was alone, was a very old one, one he had had even before his exile, and he knew how terrifying the sensation could be.

"Don't be ashamed, you hear?" He realized the flier was probably fighting his pride to even be able to talk about it, "I have those dreams too, and they are terrifying. Sometimes it's just not enough to wake up, sometimes we need someone else to tell us we'll be fine, and that we aren't alone... and there is no shame in that. Please don't think you have to keep it all in, I'm here, and not just to protect you from threats."

His voice was slightly shaking now, and he chose his next words carefully – "Your fears are my fears now, as your enemies are my enemies. Our lives are one, and they will always be, no matter how much we end up fighting or screaming at each other in the future. You know we will do that, there is really no use denying it – it's just the way we are. But know that I am as scared of losing you as you are of losing me. You told me I am your reason to keep going, well, you turned into mine too."

Henry felt Thanatos' breathing calm a little, as he kept talking, "You once told me there doesn't have to be a purpose for living at all times, sometimes you have to spend time looking for one. And I believe I have finally found mine. It is this bond... this bond is my reason to keep going now. There are others, sure – the sheer sensation of adventure and exploration is a reason, the strife to become better is another, the will to protect my friends, old and new, is also one. But this bond – this bond is what truly makes life out here worth living."

He felt the flier had calmed down entirely now, eyeing him from half-closed amber eyes. "You... truly mean that?"

"I do", Henry said and smiled – and rarely ever in his life, he had been more certain of something.

"There is a clearing over here, I believe we are on the right track!" Henry ran back to where he had left the contraption with Thanatos on it and dragged it along, towards the clearing.

Two days had passed since they had stranded in the jungle, and they were getting by better than Henry thought they would, even if it was a hassle at times.

The heat was bothering both of them and Thanatos still slipped in and out of consciousness almost at random, most likely due to the temperature and his severe injuries. Henry had gotten more used to carrying him now, but it was still difficult, with the uneven floor and the large number of plants in the way.

When they reached the clearing they took a short break, drinking some of their water. Henry just wanted to continue on, when he suddenly heard something.

He froze, immediately gripping his sword and protectively standing in front of Thanatos, who was utterly defenseless at the moment.

At first, he saw nothing, not even his echolocation worked as well as it should, the vines obstructed it, and Henry felt almost blind now, having gotten used to seeing his surroundings clearly usually.

Only after his eye had focused, in the dim light the vines and creeks gave off, he suddenly realized they were surrounded. Five pairs of eyes were staring down at him, and Henry had to use all his self-control to not fall into attack-mode instantly. But this time, he decided to wait. The creatures had not attacked yet, and suddenly, Hamnet's words rang in his ears – _Most creatures here only attack if they are left with no other choice._

Well, I hope this won't cost us our lives, Henry thought, keeping his hand on his sword still. Only when one of the pairs of eyes moved forward, out of the vines and onto the clearing, Henry realized what it was.

"You are hissers!" He called, staring at the giant, purple-blue glistening lizard before him, that now closed its previously extended ruff.

Henry looked around and realized all five of them had come out of the jungle now. They shimmered in colors from yellow-brown, over green to purple-blue, and the tallest one, the first that had come out, now raised its voice, deep and almost soothing – "What seek human and flier in this land, that is the hissers'?"

Henry hesitantly let go of his sword. The last thing he needed was them to think he was a threat. "We did not know this was your land", he answered, looking at the one who had spoken, who he presumed was their leader, "My flier is injured and we have washed ashore a few days' trek from here. We are looking for our friends, the nibblers that live here, in the jungle, but we are lost. By no means did we intend to insult you or your people." He thought he was getting the hang of this "being polite in order for things to not instantly want to kill you"-thing slowly but surely.

The purple hisser lowered his head. "Far off track, you have wandered then. We see the flier is hurt. We may show you the way to the nibblers."

For the first time, actual hope rose in Henry. "We would be in your debt if you did that. We have the means to pay you... if you want any of what we have to offer, that is."

"We do not need your goods, human", the hisser responded, "we will help because it costs nothing to help."

Henry sighed audibly with relief. He watched the other lizards approach now, and suddenly felt a nudge in the side. When he turned his head he stared into the curious eyes of a small one, a baby most likely, only about half his own size. Behind it, he saw two others, one even smaller, and realized this must be a pack of some sort – perhaps two or three families with their young.

He looked back at the purple hisser and smiled. "We'll gladly accept your help, then."


	18. Charos

"Larr said it will only be a few hours more." Henry was sitting on the back of a huge, almost entirely yellow-green-ish hisser, that also carried Thanatos, who now looked at him. "If you say so."

Almost three days they had now spent traveling with the lizards, and so far, the journey had been quite enjoyable. The hissers were rather quiet traveling companions, that usually left Henry and Thanatos to their own devices during breaks and when they assembled to sleep.

They had traversed a part of the jungle entirely foreign to both flier and human, and hadn't the hissers showed them the way, they would have never made it this far.

Once, they had crossed a place swarming with mites, the lizards had warned them to approach, as their sting brought a swift death. Then, there had been that seemingly unsuspicious clearing, but when Henry had suggested taking a break there, Larr, the purple leader of the hissers, had told him to throw a rock into the middle, before entering. When Henry had done that, he had found the clearing was no clearing, instead, it was the wide-open trap-mouth of a flesh-eating plant, that had instantly snapped shut when the rock had hit it.

Overall, they had had several encounters with some of the nastier residents of the jungle, but every time, the hissers had foreseen and warned them of the danger.

Now, they were almost at the colony, and Henry took out his water sack and drank the last of its contents. They had come across several springs with fresh water, so his supply had never run out before. And now they would soon be back at the nibblers'.

For the first time, Henry pondered what the mice might think of their long absence. He twirled around the bone, he had been carving, mindlessly. The new figurine depicted two people, a rider holding up a sword in flames and a flier with spread wings, a stain on his face and a scar, splitting it in half.

Henry had left most of his figurines with Kismet, when they had left, he had smiled and told her they were a gift so that she would remember him. Kismet had scoffed, but Henry had a feeling she had been happy to receive them. He had even left her the one of himself. This one would do a better job at representing him – them – he thought, and resumed carving.

An hour passed and Henry finished the figurine at last. He turned it around and signed "Death Rider" at the bottom, before slightly kicking Thanatos to get his attention. "Hey, look here, I made a thing!"

The flier stared at the image of them in shock and awe. He had only glanced over a couple of Henry's carvings before, and he was visibly impressed with the work – "Hey, we look great. This... this new hobby of yours may not be practical, but it sure makes for some nice-looking art. Teslas will praise it."

They spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence, Henry packed away his carving things and played a little with Larr's baby son Noar, who had taken quite the liking to him and Thanatos, over the course of their travel together.

Henry had no idea why he even liked taking care of him, he had never gotten along with kids too well, but maybe that was just something you grew into as you got older. As of recently, both the mouse babies and now the hisser pups had always liked him instantly, and Henry had eventually found he had accepted kids seemed to harbor a fascination for him now. Not to mention Boots' love for his footwear. And his spinning.

Then, the hisser they were riding, stopped. Henry looked up and noticed they stood before a clearing – one that was very familiar. "Here lies the nibbler colony. We will not take you further."

Henry and Thanatos exchanged glances. "It's time... I guess."

The exiled prince helped his bond off the hisser's back and they soon stood before Larr, Thanatos leaning on Henry for support. "Hey, you guys were great, thanks for taking us here. We owe you." The exiled prince smiled at the hisser, who nodded at him.

"If the case should arise that we need you, Death Rider, we will call in that debt", the leader of the hissers spoke. Noar on his back called "We'll miss you, we'll miss you!", and Henry grinned at him. "We'll see you again... someday. I'm sure." With that, they turned towards the clearing with the hot spring – and the nibbler colony.

When Henry had finally helped Thanatos out onto the clearing and towards the familiar lake, he could almost not believe they were actually back. "Want to sit on the beach while I get the –", but before Henry could finish his sentence, a white furball whizzed through the curtain of vines and towards the newcomers.

"YOU'RE BACK!", it screamed and ran the still startled Henry over, so that both he and the flier landed backward, in the sand.

When the exiled prince realized he was staring into the face of Curie, he could almost not believe his eyes. She must be fully grown now, he thought, eyes on the pretty white mouse that was only slightly shorter than him now. He felt Thanatos dig his nose into her fur and the three soon ended in a group hug on the floor.

Henry had no idea how long it lasted, before a different familiar voice sounded, from somewhere beyond his field of view – "Looks like sister was right this time, you are back."

Henry recognized the voice instantly – "Cevian! I mean... I'd greet you, but your sister is currently keeping me from doing so by sitting her way too grown-up hide on me."

All of them broke into vigorous laughter.

As soon as Lovelace saw them, she decided to throw a spontaneous welcome-party in their honor and led them inside, where soon most of the colony assembled to eat and hear the stories their old friends had to tell.

Henry was in the middle of demonstrating his new abilities when suddenly something grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground. He cried in surprise, not having watched out for that, but then a voice growled "don't you dare disappear like that ever again, you hear? I am still your teacher and I demand updates on things", and the exiled prince grinned.

"Good to see you too, Teslas", he mumbled, face awkwardly pressed into the nibbler's black fur, who was still lifting him up. He must have really missed me, Henry thought, considering he never leaves his workshop normally, and now he turns up here, at a party.

"But hey, I even have something for you!" Henry called after Teslas had put him back on his feet and he remembered the rock he had carried all the way here.

"I will now take this boy to my workshop, and I sincerely hope none of you have a problem with that – for your own good." Teslas growled and Henry saw Lovelace smirk. "It's not like anyone could stop you anyway. Hang in there, Henry!", she called after him, and he grinned back, awkwardly waving at her and Thanatos who looked like he wanted to facepalm, while Teslas firmly gripped his arm and dragged him with, towards the workshop.

When they arrived in the cave, where Teslas built his inventions, Henry thought it had only become even more clustered since he had last been here. He had to tell the entire story again – he left out most parts about his and Thanatos' estrangement, they had agreed to avoid bringing that up to others as much as possible. Instead, he focused on what Kismet had taught him and how she had cherished the vision aid lense Telsas had made her. Okay, maybe she hadn't exactly cherished it openly, but Henry was certain she had – in her own way.

He finally pulled out the figurine of her, one of the few he had taken along, to remember her, and showed it to Teslas. The nibbler was indeed impressed with his new skill and grinned at the way she held the lense.

"Good to know that you at least didn't waste any time, even if the one you learned from wasn't me", he said, and Henry nodded. "It is almost impossible, I know, but Kismet's as good at keeping people on their toes as you – if not better." They both grinned and Henry was happy the nibbler was open-minded enough to not instantly judge her by her species.

Then, his gaze fell on his backpack and he remembered the Skyrock. "Goodness, I almost forgot again – I do have a thing for you. We fetched it from that icy cave system beneath the waterway I told you about. Kismet said it's... a rock that once fell from the sky."

Teslas' head jolted up and his ears stood straight. "Pardon me...?"

Henry grinned, fetched his backpack, and turned it upside down. The contents spilled out, and at last, there it was – he had to unwrap it from the cloth he had packed it in, but finally, Henry lied the rock, metal ball, or whatever really it was, on Teslas' desk.

The black nibbler eyed it in awe, with big, round eyes, and only carefully drew closer. He inspected the odd substance for a while, then turned back to Henry. His eyes shone with a light that the exiled prince hadn't seen since they had successfully tested the ignifer, almost a year ago.

"This... Henry, do you have any idea what you have brought me here?" His voice was almost shaking with excitement.

Henry grinned – only Teslas could ever get so worked up over a rock. "Nope. But that's precisely why I brought it to you. Maybe you could use it for something."

The nibbler overheard the slightly mocking tone in Henry's voice, "Something... SOMETHING? Henry, we will not just make SOMETHING out of this..." He went back to inspecting the substance, mumbling to himself. Then, he moved away to one of the chests that stood on the floor and turned it upside down. Out fell dozens of leather scrolls, those that Henry could see had designs of all kinds on them – different types of weapons, armor and other gadgets, some of which he did not even recognize.

"Hey, what are those, why haven't you showed me any of them?" He picked one up that displayed a thing he had never seen before. The sketch appeared to be a weapon of some kind as there were labels that said "blade", but it was not a sword or knife.

The thing was elongated and bent, to form a third tip, along with the two at the ends. The title was written in Teslas' shorthand, and although Henry could decipher the symbols at this point, the word made no sense to him. "A Boom... Boom-er-ang? What in the world is this?"

Teslas chuckled. "Why did I never show any of them to him, he asks... YOU WERE GONE the last half a year, THAT'S WHY. I mean I had to occupy myself somehow while you weren't here. I made a few... designs, for you. For future use." Henry stared at the mountain of scrolls. "A... few."

Teslas scoffed, taking the scroll with the sketch of the thing apparently called "Boomerang" from Henry. "Yes, a few. But this one is for later. Maybe. If we ever find time and use for it."

"It looked neat though..." Henry mumbled, but Teslas had already moved on. He was digging through the scrolls and muttering to himself, leaving Henry to stand in the room, unsure what the black nibbler expected of him.

"Hey, eh... Henry, how about you go back to the party and fetch me someone who's good in geology. Maybe Lyella or Darwin... or both. I need more information on this rock before I can pick something to do with it."

Henry sighed. "But only if you promise me I can take a look at the designs in that chest at some point... soon."

Teslas was already occupied with the rock again. "Sure, sure, I mean, they are for you anyway. But now go! I NEED ANSWERS!"

Henry chuckled as he left the inventor to his work. Teslas would never change, but that was the amazing thing about him.

"This is a most peculiar material, but highly fascinating indeed." It was the day after the party and they were standing around the rock in a group of four, Teslas, Henry, and the two nibblers Darwin and Lyella, former dark brown and slightly taller than Teslas, latter light grey and a little smaller than the males.

"It is", Lyella supported Darwin's claim, eyeing it again from all sides. "It looks like a rock, but it is not one. It's some form of metal, though I have never before seen this particular alloy."

"Not just the alloy", Darwin spoke now, "parts of it seem to consist of something none of us have ever seen before. There is iron in it, as well as silver, but the rest...", he shook his head. "You said it was a meteorite, Teslas?"

The black nibbler nodded. "The boy found it in some caves underneath the waterway. It is not surprising it's unknown then. But what we are interested in, are its qualities. How hard is it, how well can you work it – it is not one of those metals that burn your skin away and have you grow weird things like third arms and stuff?" Teslas suddenly asked, and Henry looked at him, alarmed. Metals that... what?

"Oh no, it is not radioactive. According to the tests we made, it is entirely safe." Lyella assured, but Darwin chuckled – "Well, yes, according to our tests it is. It's no guarantee it is ACTUALLY safe though. It is from space, after all, it might do something we have no test for."

Henry furrowed his brows and eyed the substance suspiciously now. He had not even considered it might be dangerous.

"Relax, boy, you were carrying it with you this entire time, were you not? Were it dangerous, you would have already noticed something... most likely." Lyella joined Darwin's awkward chuckle.

"Anyway", Teslas cleared his throat, "back to the IMPORTANT stuff. Like... what is it good for? Is it hard, easy to work? We already established it's light. Does that mean it breaks easily?"

Darwin stepped closer, pulling out some sort of leather scroll he had made notes on. "Oh, quite the opposite actually. This alloy is harder than any conventional material known to us, save maybe diamond, it was incredibly hard even splitting off a sample to test."

Lyella glanced at the note sheet too. "It is light and incredibly hard but melts rather easily. You should be able to forge it into whatever you need without trouble, though we wouldn't recommend exposing the finished product to great heat, as it could start deforming."

"In fact, if you'd like a recommendation on what to make from it, we think it's the perfect material for some sort of blade", Darwin handed the scroll over to Lyella and stepped forward, "It is light, so it will be easy to wield and harder than the steel you usually make your blades from."

Henry and Teslas exchanged glances. "But I already have a sword and a dagger, and reforging my sword from this would make it impossible to use the ignifer on it, according to what those two just said."

But Teslas' eyes still shone with excitement. "Who said anything about REPLACING one of your current blades? In fact, I believe I have the perfect design for this... here... somewhere..." He had moved over to his chest and started digging through it.

Henry, Lyella, and Darwin watched curiously, and only after a few minutes of searching Teslas finally seemed to have found what he was looking for. He held the scroll, he had fetched, high in the air, calling "THIS WILL BE GLORIOUS!", then unrolled it on top of the table, before the eyes of his visitors – and Henry's jaw dropped open.

"You are making... a sword out of it? Don't you already have one of those?", Thanatos was lying on the beach, his wing had been freshly splinted and it was already in the process of healing. His other injuries had been tended to as well, and overall, he was feeling and looking much better already. It would still take him a few weeks until he'd be able to fly again, but he was getting there.

Lovelace had offered to harbor them until the flier's wing was fully healed and Henry had accepted, partially because, with Thanatos unable to fly, they couldn't really go anywhere anyway. And then, he also had a few things to make and discuss with Teslas. A few-week break at the nibblers' was honestly exactly what both he and the flier needed, after all the ordeals. And then, when they were fully recovered, they would find a way to track Longclaw and have their revenge. But all in due time.

"No, no, no – you don't UNDERSTAND!" Henry was pacing up and down before him, barely able to hold back his excitement. "Not just A sword – it will be different from the one I have, and –"

"Henry, a sword is a sword." Thanatos apparently did not share Henry's excitement.

"And that's where you are wrong." The exiled prince plopped down beside him, reluctantly. "Just wait until you see it, and then tell me again that it's "just a sword"."

Thanatos sighed. "Alright. Let's do it like that. I can not wait." The sarcasm in his voice was evident, but his eyes were smiling.

Henry grinned. "It'll be great. You know, Teslas has a bunch of designs for new things for me, apparently, that's what happens if we leave him alone for too long. I can't wait to see and try them all!"

Thanatos was silent for a moment, and Henry was about to take out his carving equipment, as Teslas had told him he'd need to get everything ready before they could start making the blade, which would take until the evening, when Thanatos suddenly spoke – "Alright, and can you now finally tell me what you have been keeping from me – again?"

Henry jerked around, confused as to what he was talking about – then the realization hit him. He cursed internally for being so distracted by the meteorite and the new sword that he forgot to show Teslas the design he himself had come up with.

Henry sighed. "I... I'm sorry, I really am, and I was going to tell you, perhaps even today. I just wanted to ask Teslas for his opinion first, because it's... it's just a design for a new gadget, but it's also... you know", he chuckled awkwardly, "... controversial, even for me."

Thanatos listened up. "Is it now?"

Henry started playing around with Mys nervously. "It... listen, can I talk to Teslas first, and then... we talk to you together? It'll be much easier like that."

Thanatos scoffed. "Why in the world would you need support to talk about something as trivial as a new design... to your own bond?"

Henry sighed. "Because you may be my bond, but you're also a proud flier, and the moment I show you what it is, you'll interrupt me and start yelling that I'm trying to disrespect you and just stop listening altogether."

Thanatos chuckled. "Try me."

"I'd really rather not." Henry started burying his hands in the sand. "I promise I'll tell you, but together with Teslas."

The flier nudged him in the side with his head. "Henry, spill it. There is nothing, I promise, that you could suggest, that will make me yell at you. As long as its sole purpose is not, you know, ACTUALLY just to disrespect me."

"It's not", Henry sighed, he thought about how he had first had this idea, almost immediately after they had left the jungle.

He thought about how much more efficiently they had killed the cutters when Thanatos had flown upside down. Back then, he had not even known if he would ever bring this idea up to anyone, but at this point, he at least had a clear design – somewhat. He was sure it'd need work, but for now, he at least had somewhere to start.

"It's... listen, if this works, if we FIND a way to make it work, it'll make us considerably stronger in battle. And by considerably, I mean a LOT. That is its purpose. Just... try and keep that in mind, okay?" Henry stood up to fetch his mother's notebook from his backpack, that he had stored in their sleeping cave.

When he returned, Thanatos was still lying on the beach, and for some reason, Henry's heart was beating out of his chest. He had no idea why he was so nervous, but it was now or never.

"So, what is it now?" The flier asked, turning his way.

"Just... look yourself." Henry opened the page and lied the book down before the flier.

"That is... is that... a saddle?" Thanatos' tone was unbelieving and Henry squinted his eye, trying to prepare for the incoming tirade. "Henry, you know exactly why fliers don't wear saddles, it is symbolic of our equality with the humans. It –"

The exiled prince tried to interrupt him, "I know, and I told you it was –", but as expected, Thanatos did not let him finish. "After everything you have learned, and after everything we've been through, are you still seriously suggesting this? It is –"

"Death, can you let me explain for a second?" Henry was getting annoyed. He dug his fingers into the sand now, but Thanatos just continued talking. "Explain? What is there to explain? All I see is that you have not –"

That's when Henry had enough. "THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DID NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS!"

Finally, the flier was silent, and his bond sighed before he continued. "I TOLD you you wouldn't listen to me, and just start lecturing me about how it's disrespectful – didn't I? And what did you do?"

"Well, that's because it is." Thanatos scoffed. Henry rolled his eyes. "What did I tell you was its purpose?"

The flier hesitated. "To... make us stronger in battle? But how could a saddle make us..."

"That is PRECISELY WHAT I WANTED TO EXPLAIN before YOU INTERRUPTED ME!" Henry called, still fed up about having to fight so hard just to be able to elaborate on the concept. "Do you really think I'd even bring this up if it wasn't amazing in its concept? It's not fleshed out yet, but if we work on it, it could change everything. And I actually mean that."

Thantos was silent now, eyeing him from narrow eyes. Finally, he spoke again – "Alright. You know what... go ahead. Explain. I am not letting you put any sort of saddle on me ever, but... explain. I believe I owe you that much trust at least."

Henry sighed audibly. "Thank you. That's... honestly more than I expected. And I will, believe me. You won't be disappointed." He took another deep breath, picking up the notebook, getting ready to start talking, when a voice suddenly called from the curtain of vines – "Henry, dad is looking for you. He said he needs your help with something!"

Henry threw a glance back at the curtain and saw Curie's head poking out. He looked at Thanatos and shrugged. "Guess the saddle will have to wait, then, sorry."

The flier rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm missing much anyway." Henry kicked him for that remark but finally followed Curie into the colony, towards her father's workshop.

"Henry, come, it is done now! You can finally take a look!" The exiled prince heard Teslas yell and immediately jumped to his feet. He flung the curtain to the workshop aside and approached the forge in the corner of the room almost cautiously.

A week had passed since he and Thanatos had arrived at the colony, and Teslas and Henry had spent almost all of it working on the new blade. They had needed to adjust the design a little, come up with an idea for a sheath, make a bunch of custom molds – but at last, here it was, finally done.

Henry had also filled the nibbler in on the details of his saddle idea, and Teslas had been over the moon when he finally understood the concept behind it. They had talked to Thanatos together after all, and even though the flier was still rather skeptical, they had managed to convince him to at least let them do a few experiments with the design.

But now Henry was eagerly staring at the table next to the forge, that was covered up by a cloth. "Is that really necessary?", he asked, eyeing Teslas, but the nibbler grinned. "You know it is."

He finally stood next to Henry and, glancing over at the final sketch the exiled prince had made a couple days ago, that hung on the wall above the table, and carefully unveiled the result of their efforts.

Henry could not suppress an enormous grin from spreading over his face. The sword that lied before him now, was nothing short of magnificent. The blade was pitch black, like the raw material had been, broad, and very long. Henry carefully gripped the handle with both hands, it was the exact perfect length for that. They had even added a little hump in the middle, to separate the handle in two halves.

When Henry raised the sword from where it lied, he was once more surprised at how little it weighed. He estimated its full length on around four feet six or seven, and for how big it was, it maybe weighed the same as his other, considerably shorter, sword.

"A dual-handed blade for close-up and grounded combat you wanted, and you received – I'm pretty sure", Teslas laughed. Henry tried twirling the new sword around, which wasn't easy, considering its length. "This... this is fantastic, Teslas, you... I love it."

The nibbler grinned, putting his front paws to his hips. "Well, what else did you expect from something we both worked on this hard?"

They exchanged excited glances and Henry grabbed the blade with a single hand now, which was not what it was meant for, but very possible. He inspected the handle and the primary, long, as well as the secondary, smaller crossguard, a few inches below the big one, consisting of metal points that stood out to the side. The blade itself was honed razor-sharp and overall felt incredibly good to hold and swing.

Though when he tried swinging it around inside the workshop, Teslas quickly banned him from doing so, sending him outside. "Or you'll demolish everything in here within seconds", he said.

"Oh and – while you're at it", he called after Henry, when he was already on his way out, "why don't you come up with a name for it? We agree on the fact that it deserves one, right?"

Henry nodded and left, contemplating the matter. When he stepped out, he saw Thanatos and Curie on the beach, sitting and talking. He approached, the new sword shouldered, and called out to them – "How is it?" Henry twirled the blade around once, something he'd definitely need to practice more, and rammed the tip into the floor. The handle reached up to his chest now, and he thought the tip lacked some sort of knob, maybe.

"That... THAT is the new sword?" Thanatos was visibly surprised, and Henry grinned. "Do you now understand why "sword" doesn't equal "sword"? Because the old toothpick I use normally can not possibly compare to this!" He took it up again and sliced the air, the sharp, black blade made a quiet, but not unpleasant sound. Henry instantly found he liked having a bigger, stronger sword, to keep enemies at distance and block attacks more effectively.

"That... is a nice blade", Thanatos admitted. "Though... isn't it a little big?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "That is the POINT, Death. I wanted a bigger, preferably dual-handed sword for close-up combat, when I have to fight enemies bigger than me, or when I'm on the ground. And if you're worried that it looks heavy, it is not. The material is really light, I can almost not feel a difference in weight to my normal sword."

"It's really pretty!", Curie called, drawing closer and inspecting it. "Does it have a name, like your dagger?"

"It will have one... soon enough."

"Any ideas?", the flier asked. Henry pondered for a second. He glanced at the black blade, then back at Thanatos.

He raised the sword and held it the way it was meant to be held, in front of his body, with both hands. Then, he suddenly thought about the prophecy, and how he was the Death Rider again now.

"How about I call it...", Henry grinned, "Charos." Thanatos looked up. "You want to name your sword after the Grim Reaper?"

The exiled prince chuckled. "Well, it will be reaping lives for sure. The color matches too. And besides, aren't we essentially the Grim Reaper ourselves? I thought it would be fitting."

"You know what", the flier smiled, "it sort of is. Except for that knob. You're good at carving now, aren't you? Make a new one. It's way too boring at the moment, considering how fancy the sword itself is."

They all broke into laughter. "You can bet I will!", called Henry, before raising Charos above his head, with a single hand. "You all can bet!"


	19. Pride

Henry was slowly turning, trying to keep an eye on all, Cevian, Cylindra, and Pollux, Teslas' oldest child, that were circling him, looking for an opening to attack. He was gripping Charos with both hands, holding it before his body protectively, and listening for their steps carefully.

When they had finished the sword, three weeks ago, Cevian had been so excited and impressed with it, she had made it her personal duty to train with Henry, and her brother, as well as her best friend, had immediately agreed to help. The three mice had become Henry's most common sparring partners, over the course of the weeks, and not last thanks to them, he had gotten used to the new sword fairly quickly.

He glanced over the blade now, regarding the new knob he had carved out of a bone, that looked like a bat spreading its wings, with pride. "Won't the wings be in constant danger of breaking off though?", had been Thanatos' first comment, and Henry had laughed, dismissing it and claiming he could replace it anytime, after all.

He felt the steps of Cylindra approaching from behind and ducked away under her attack, rolling off to the side, and blocking Pollux' claws with the blade. Cevian leaped at him from upfront and he held Charos horizontally, to block her path.

Having a bigger sword that covered more space and of which he did not have to fear it would break under a lot of pressure was fantastic, and he was fairly versed at using it now.

Sparring wasn't the only thing Henry had spent his time on though, over the last couple weeks. Lovelace and Teslas had found a compromise on how to divide his time between chores for both, they decided they would switch every second day. He was working in Teslas' workshop for two days, then ran errands for Lovelace the next two, and so on.

Henry had found the compromise acceptable, especially as in between switching, he had successfully pushed through that he would always get a day off for training and doing whatever he wanted as well.

Today was one of his free days. He had just returned from a supply mission to the Fount yesterday, and tomorrow he would start working with Teslas.

Most of the errands he had run for Lovelace so far had gone to the Fount. At first, he only supplied the nibbler colony there, who were close friends to the mice in the jungle. He had refused to travel directly to the human settlement before, but when the nibblers at the colony there told him the humans needed supplies more than they, he had – cautiously at first – led his first trading party there.

They needed goods direly as the plague had hit them hard and many of their old suppliers were dead, or too occupied with their own aftermath of the plague, to keep supporting them. Regalia and the nibblers were the only ones that remained.

To Henry's surprise, all his fears about being unwelcome had been unjustified. Apparently, most of them cared more for the things he brought than for his outcast status. Further, he was a friend of the nibblers, and luckily, his reputation from supporting the quest in the jungle and on the waterway had spread, and York and Susannah welcomed him almost with open arms. Some of the people had even thanked him for saving Luxa and called him a hero.

Curiously enough, it had been Howard's younger siblings, who had taken the biggest liking to him, throughout his, at this point, three visits there. Chim, Hero, and Kent loved how he always had some sort of story to tell, and they were visibly fascinated with his entire image. Stellovet had pretended to dislike him at first, but Henry had quickly noticed her eyes shone exactly the same way as her younger siblings' when he talked of his adventures, perils, and battles.

Over the course of his visits, she had apparently grown more and more tired of pretending and soon turned into one of his biggest admirers herself. The last time he had arrived, she had even waited for him at the gate, eyes shining with excitement, much to Howard's disapproval.

Howard himself was the only one who still cared little for Henry, all he ever did when his siblings clustered around the outcast and bombarded him with questions, was raise an eyebrow dismissively. Henry had even overheard him talking to Stellovet about how she should stay away from the "dangerous outcast", to which she had simply responded – "from what you told me, didn't he save your ass at the waterway?" That had done the job of silencing Howard for a while, and Henry had had to suppress a chuckle.

It had been weird seeing all of them again, like this – without them knowing who he was. He had spent his childhood playing with them and making fun of them, especially Howard and Stellovet, but now it was almost nice to be able to enjoy the company of humans – any humans – again.

Luxa and Gregor had been there once as well, she had mentioned she had wanted to show the Overlanders and Hazard, who had moved to Regalia after Hamnet's death, the Fount, and he had been able to ask for the fate of the plague victims.

Howard and Andromeda were perfectly healthy again, though Howard had visibly lost weight and his features had matured, similarly to Henry's, throughout his first half a year in exile.

He had been relieved to find out Ares was alive as well, and though he was still in the hospital, he was almost cured too. It would take him a few more weeks to get out, as he had been the worst case, but he would fully recover soon.

Gregor's mother was still in the hospital as well, she had not been as sick as Ares, but from what Henry had understood, the doctors had discovered Overlanders had some sort of resistance to the cure, and while it had eased the symptoms, it had not erased the plague from her body yet. They had needed to conduct more experiments and readjust the formula a little, which had taken longer than anticipated. Now, they were fairly optimistic again, saying the latest version would most likely work, though it would take a long time for her to actually get out of the hospital. Half a year at best, the doctors had told Gregor.

He was fairly frustrated at that, but Henry suspected Luxa was almost happy. This way, he had a reason to come back to the Underland frequently, apparently, he was in Regalia almost every day now. The two had visibly grown closer, over the last year, and normally, Henry would have teased her endlessly about it, but like this, he had to resort to rambling to Thanatos and the mice about it.

It had been good to see her again – she had grown so much, this last year. Henry realized she was thirteen already, like Gregor, and a wave of that specific feeling, when you discover kids are growing without you being prepared for it, had hit him unexpectedly.

He thought about how his own eighteenth birthday was in a few months and suddenly asked himself if one day, his age would become meaningless to him. If it all would just blur together into endless weeks, months and years, and if he would at some point not be able to answer the question as to how old he was anymore.

Then, Henry had realized it was utterly pointless and a waste of his thoughts to linger on something so conceptual and abstract, and went back to sparring with Charos.

"It... should work. At least somewhat. Though, are you sure you don't need a handle to hold on?" Teslas asked while he and Henry inspected the result of their work, these last two days.

The exiled prince rolled his eyes at the nibbler. "Handles are for weaklings. I'll be fine."

"If you say so", Teslas grinned. "Well, ready to show Thanatos? You should test it in a safe environment, and maybe above a water body, just in case you DO fall off."

Henry chuckled. "I won't FALL OFF. I NEVER fell off a bat before – except on purpose. Now that would be a first I could live without."

He took up the saddle prototype they had just finished and started making his way out. Fall off... who did Teslas think he was?

"And you are actually serious about this?" The gaze in Thanatos' amber eyes was still skeptical when Henry showed him the prototype.

"It'll be great, let's just test it, okay? You agreed to let me test it!"

"What was I thinking", Henry heard the flier mumble as he reluctantly let the exiled prince strap the construction around his neck. It looked almost like a broad collar from leather with a surface to sit on and the lever that activated the primary function. "The things I do for you, Henry, never cease to amaze me, truly."

"Oh, quit whining, it actually looks really neat." Henry grinned. "And once you see how it works, you'll love it as much as me."

"Never", Thanatos grunted, but let Henry mount up with a sigh.

It felt strange sitting on an artificial surface, instead of on the flier's fur directly, for the first time, and the exiled prince thought as much as Thanatos would have to get used to this, he would too. He quickly checked the accessibility of the lever and signaled he was ready to begin the test run.

As confident as he had acted in front of Teslas, he was still happy nobody was around to watch them now. If he did end up falling off, he could really live without the mockery of his mice friends.

Thanatos lifted off and soon hovered above the lake, just in case. Henry felt his chest tighten with excitement, as he fumbled with the lever. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be", the flier grunted, and Henry determinately pulled it to the right.

The saddle did exactly what it was supposed to – the whole construction, along with the sitting surface, rotated to the right, at first by exactly ninety degrees, but Henry was so startled he forgot to let go of the lever and the construction rotated again, by another ninety degrees. And it sent Henry, who was not even remotely able to hold on, using only his legs in an upside-down position, face-forward into the lake.

When he broke the surface moments later, snorting and coughing, Thanatos was laughing vigorously. "Maybe you should at least add a handle to hold on!", he called, finally grabbing his bond by the arm and heaving him out of the water.

Henry, sitting on the beach, looking like a drowned rat, glared at him from beneath the strands of his wet hair, that now reached beyond his shoulders when untied. "Well, MAYBE I SHOULD!"

"Falling off a bat for the first time, really, what a great start to the day this is", Henry mumbled to himself, angrily pulling his dripping shirt over his head, wringing it out and tossing it onto the beach to dry. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, you hear?" He called to Thanatos, who was still chuckling.

"Maybe I won't, maybe I will. Depends on how much of a brat you are." For that, Henry started chasing him, swinging his wet shirt, yelling mocking threats.

They spent the next half an hour messing around in a similar manner until Henry's hair and clothes had dried enough so that he felt ready to go back inside. He took the saddle with him, grumbling he'd add a handle, and maybe something else to help him hold on.

Apparently, it was not as easy as he had thought, staying on a bat while upside down.

Later that day, when it was time to go to bed, Henry and Thanatos were sitting in their designated sleeping cave, but the exiled prince was still sketching around in his mother's notebook, instead of turning off the lantern, that stood next to him, and going to bed.

"You need to get some sleep. You can finish that later, Henry", his bond poked him in the side, and Henry grunted. "Hold up, almost done."

"What are you even sketching?" The flier asked, curiously eyeing the page. While shifting to get a closer look, he accidentally touched Charos, that was leaning against the wall, with a wing, and the huge sword fell over, making a deafening clanking noise.

Henry jumped, dropping the notebook, and rose to lift the sword back up, not without glaring at Thanatos accusingly. The flier just shrugged, but then his attention was captivated by the notebook. "That... is not your hand, is it?" He asked, glancing over the random page that had flipped open when Henry had dropped it.

The exiled prince sat back down and picked up the book. "Did I never tell you? It belonged to my mother."

Thanatos shook his head and Henry was surprised at how he had forgotten to share this story entirely. He sat so that his bond could see the pages and flipped through them, one by one, showing the flier what his mother had come up with over the course of her using this book.

"I knew your mother was an inventor, your father spoke of her frequently, but I had no idea how brilliant she was." Thanatos chuckled. "Where did you get this book from?"

Henry sighed. He packed away the notebook and lied down, leaning his head against Thanatos' back, and told him about his first day of working for Teslas. How he had found out, how he had assumed the worst immediately, and how Teslas had shared with him what he knew of his mother, and given him the notebook to keep.

"Ever since then I draw my own inventions in it. I think my mother would have been happy." He smiled at the ceiling.

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "I had almost forgotten how I found you packing and crying, back then. It makes sense why you jumped to conclusions, it must have felt like losing your mother for the second time."

Henry turned and pressed his face into the flier's fur. "It... it did. I sincerely thought she... she had never even cared about me. But now... Now she is always with me, through mine and Teslas' inventions, and through this book."

The flier nodded. "I am sure she would have been proud of you."

Henry gave a dry chuckle. "Proud? Of a traitor for a son?" But Thanatos silenced him immediately. "Henry, you are so much more than that. Do not let the past weigh you down like this, I speak from experience, you know?"

The exiled prince remained silent, but the flier continued – "I only met her once or twice, but my memory of her is fairly clear. You look a lot like her, you know? Especially when your eyes shine with excitement about something new."

"Really? I barely even remember her, even though I was eight when she died. She was never at home, and neither was father. I know now that she had a good reason, but still." Henry hesitated, "You... you knew my father, didn't you? What... what was he like?"

Thanatos sighed. "I see him in you as well, in a lot of ways. Bold, brave, fierce, up for every challenge, a leader – not afraid to go past his comfort zone and try new things."

Henry chuckled. "I used to be very against going out of my comfort zone, actually. That only changed when exile forced me so far out of it that I simply decided it doesn't matter anyway anymore."

Thanatos grinned. "I know. I still had to deal with that "you" as well, don't you remember?"

"You mean the "me" you wanted to dump in the Dead Land before he saved your ass from the rats? The "me" that almost starved himself to death before agreeing to try raw fish? The "me" that let the crawlers who were chased by those rats die for their weakness?" Henry elbowed him slightly.

"Exactly that "you". The snotty prince of Regalia", the flier extended his wing a little, causing Henry to be flung across the cave. The exiled prince screamed in shock and the flier laughed. "I can sometimes genuinely not believe I put up with your brattiness and obliviousness back then. Like, what in the world was I thinking?"

They both laughed. "You thought I would die two seconds after you left me. And you wanted to avoid any more unnecessary deaths on your conscience." Henry remembered Thanatos' words to Hamnet. "That must have been it, at least in those early days."

The flier nodded. "I thought of leaving you every day, you know? But then I looked at that pathetic pile of misery that you were back then, and I just couldn't bring myself to."

Henry elbowed him, fiercely this time, and Thanatos chuckled. "You know, the worst part is, I can not even say you are wrong." The exiled prince sighed. "I WAS a pathetic pile of misery who needed your routine to even get through the day."

"I had a feeling", the flier grinned, and they proceeded to lie in silence for a while.

"You know, I am happy you told me about your mother. It also sheds light on why you and Teslas built such a strong connection so quickly, and why he accepted you as a student back then. He must have done it for her." Thanatos spoke up again after a while.

Henry nodded. "I'm pretty sure that was why", he sighed, "I would have told you earlier, I just... forgot, kind of."

"It's alright", Thanatos reassure him.

"Hey, tomorrow we test the saddle with the handle, okay?" Henry grinned. "Teslas and I added it earlier today, and I am itching for another test run. Tomorrow is my free day too."

Thanatos sighed. "Fine. You know what, fine. Do whatever tests you like, I am tired of fighting because of this."

Henry jerked up, eyes shining with excitement. "REALLY?!"

The flier rolled his eyes. "Sure. It's not like I can stop you anyway."

Henry spontaneously wrapped his arms around his neck. "OH MY GOODNESS YOU ARE THE BEST I LOVE YOU AND I PROMISE IT WILL BE AWESOME BUT YOU ARE THE BEST AND –"

Thanatos interrupted him, chuckling – "Okay, okay, calm down, geez, it's just a few experiments."

"No, it's not", Henry shook his head, "It's you, ditching your pride for me, and going out of your comfort zone as much as I have, back when I was still the bratty prince."

"That's what you do when you love someone", Thanatos' voice was quiet, but his words still painted a smile on Henry's face. "You do?"

"You're the closest thing to family that I still have... and had in a long time", was all the flier said.

"You too", his bond responded.

But now, fuelled by their conversation, he was way too restless to sleep. "And look, it will be worth it, I promise", he assured Thanatos. "A saddle that rotates with the rider, imagine the stunts it will allow us. Fighting grounded enemies while sitting upside down will be so much easier, and dodging by rotating too. And the best thing is, you will be able to fly normally. It's just me who will rotate. Don't you agree this will be an outstanding gadget if we learn to utilize it?"

"If you and Teslas ever perfect it, and if we master it", Thanatos responded, "Because as fun as all that sounds when you say it like that – even if the handle works, I'm pretty sure you're far away from finishing the design. It'll need work. And once you perfect it, actually learning to utilize it effectively will take months of practice as well. For me and for you."

Henry sighed. "I know. We'll probably have to unlearn everything we have practiced in terms of flying together so far, but oh well. It'll be worth it... don't you think?"

Thanatos pondered. "If it does work the way you describe it... then yes. That will increase our strength, and most importantly, our unpredictability, in battle significantly."

"So you're with me?" Henry grinned.

"Always."


	20. Word of Mouth

"Howard, dear, are you sure he said he didn't want to stay for dinner? He usually does." Henry heard Susannah's voice through the door to the main hall in their residence at the Fount.

He clenched his fist, narrowed his eyes, and determinately pushed open the door. "I never said such a thing, actually!", he called towards Luxa's aunt, who stood in the middle of the room with her oldest son. Howard was almost a head taller than her, and yet he visibly shrunk a few inches as soon as Henry entered.

"Howard...?" His mother put her hands to her hips. "It is impolite to speak for others like this. He is our guest now like he always is. Please behave yourself."

Henry had to suppress a chuckle. Howard getting lectured was such a rare occurrence that he decided to treasure every second of it, for as long as it lasted.

"Dinner will be served in around an hour", Susannah turned towards him, smiling, "I assume you will be leaving after, like always?"

Henry nodded, unable to resist throwing Howard a gloating look. "I'll tell Thanatos, Cevian and Triax. We will all be happy to attend."

Susannah threw him a last, sympathetic look. "We will see each other in an hour then."

Henry turned around, preparing to leave the room, though if his ears could be rotated, they'd be pointed backward, at Howard and his mother, right now. Unfortunately, they left the room pretty quickly as well, without speaking any more, and Henry shrugged and decided to actually go looking for his trading party, to tell them when dinner would be served.

Maybe two more weeks had passed since his and Thanatos' first failed saddle attempts. They had decided to stay with the mice for a while longer, mainly because Henry had started enjoying these trips to the Fount more than he probably should. Not even necessarily because he was extremely attached to the people here, but because it was human contact – in general – that he had missed more than he had realized.

The gossip around their household was almost worse than what he remembered from Regalia's palace, and he relished every second of it, every juicy detail he could discover, every secret, every scandal. With the five kids, it was never boring too, and the visits here had soon become his favorite thing to do, except for maybe working with Teslas.

Half an hour later, he had informed Thanatos and the two nibblers, Cevian and Triax, who had accompanied them, that they were invited to stay for dinner, like usual.

Then, he went back to the main residence, even though he wasn't exactly supposed to wander around in there unsupervised. But so far, Henry had always managed to find a believable excuse, the few times when he had actually been caught. And he had learned very early throughout his childhood, that, if you wanted to hear gossip, the best time to do that was when nobody knew you were around.

He had spent many days here as a child and knew the layout of the residence pretty well. There were no secret tunnels, like in the palace in Regalia – at least from what he knew – but a whole lot of little-used halls, that were normally empty.

Now, he was strolling through one of them, close to the main hall, when he suddenly heard the steps of a different person coming down the hall. Henry quickly dove into a room that he heard was empty, and praised his new echolocation skills and how easy they made it to spy on people.

From the steps, it sounded like a teenage girl, and when he peeked through the curtain, he saw it was Stellovet, who seemed to be in quite a hurry. Her hair, that she usually put a lot of time and effort into, creating beautiful and intricate hairdos, was now loosely cascading down past her waist, and she held the seams of her long yellow dress up, to be able to walk faster without tripping.

She soon entered the main hall, that was connected to this hall through a doorless stone arch, and Henry heard her voice – but not spiteful or bratty as he expected, but rather abashed – "Dad, mom, what did you need me for?", she addressed her parents, who apparently both were in the room.

Henry had to focus his hearing, but from where he sat, behind the curtain, he was able to understand everything said in the room. He grinned, internally rubbing his hands in anticipation of the drama. Oh, how much he had missed being around humans. Other species were not nearly as interesting, for the lack of gossip and scandals alone.

"Stellovet, we need to talk to you about your behavior around the Death Rider, recently." That was York's voice, and he sounded less than pleased. Susannah's husband was, in regards to Henry, more like Howard. He usually put on a friendly front before him, but the exiled prince had often listened in on him complaining how "inadequately comfortable the outcast seemed to be getting in our home, recently", to all sorts of people.

"Oh Stellovet, dear, how are you even looking", that was Susannah, Henry heard her take a few steps, he focused and visualized her standing before her daughter now, fumbling around at her dress and hair, "you are usually so mindful of your appearance, what in the world has gotten into you today?"

Stellovet shifted uncomfortably. "It's not like anyone is around to see me anyway. And why are we talking about the Death Rider now?"

Henry realized she had not seen him yet, and wondered where she had been all day. Usually, she was one of the first people to greet him.

"Because he arrived here, earlier today, while you were out at the lake with your teachers. He will be attending dinner in around twenty minutes", York informed his daughter, who audibly gasped.

"WHAT?! He is here, and you don't even TELL ME?" Henry had to suppress a chuckle.

"Actually, I specifically told your teachers to take you out today, in order for you to not embarrass yourself and our entire family again, by acting like you normally do, around him", her father continued.

"We get that all you children are fascinated when an outcast like him, with exciting stories, comes here, but you are old enough now to not act on it, like your brother", Susannah added.

"Yes, just look at your brother, he is always the epitome of dignity." York sounded pleased with Howard. Maybe, Henry thought, nobody had told him yet that his son had tried telling Susannah that Henry would not stay for dinner, earlier.

Stellovet turned a little, the exiled prince assumed she was irritated. "Yes, I know, dad. Howard is perfect – how dare I forget."

"Mind your tone, young lady!" Her father wasn't having any of it, "And for the love of everything, please stop swooning over him like you always do, it will do you no good, and it is an embarrassing kind of behavior for a girl your age. You will turn fifteen in a few weeks, only a year from now you will be an adult. This is very inappropriate behavior for a daughter of my house, and I will not tolerate it any longer."

Surprisingly, Stellovet remained silent, and York continued – "If you can not restrain yourself, I will personally take care to send you away from now on, whenever he comes here", quieter he added, "Perhaps we should send note that we wish for less frequent supply deliveries altogether. He's been coming here far too often these last couple weeks if you ask me."

Suddenly, Henry heard a different set of footsteps, approaching from the other side. He recognized Howard, and Stellovet's brother awkwardly stopped, when he realized his father was in the middle of lecturing her.

"Howard, is that you? Would you please go fetch your other siblings for dinner? Stellovet will join you shortly after she has tidied herself up", Henry heard Susannah address her son and Howard voiced an approving "Right away, mother."

"You are dismissed as well, Stellovet", York added, "But heed my words, will you? I expect impeccable behavior from you during dinner."

Henry heard no response, her steps simply moved away towards the door. He heard the suppressed anger and frustration in them clearly.

"And what are you gawking at?" She hissed at Howard, who had apparently waited for her in the hall.

"Nothing, hey, Stello, wait a moment!" He called after her, and Henry heard their steps move away, in the direction of the living quarters.

He quietly left the room he had been hiding in and followed them, as quietly as he could. When he could hear their voices again he stopped, hiding behind a stone ledge this time. They were now standing in the middle of the living room the kids shared, to all sides of it were their bedrooms.

"What is it, Howard – I have to "tidy myself up for dinner", or mom will lose it again!" Her voice was seething with suppressed anger.

"Stello, what was that about, in there? They seemed angry with you." Howard's tone was concerned. "Are you in trouble?"

Stellovet snorted. "Apparently, dad doesn't like it when I'm too friendly with the Death Rider. "Inappropriate behavior for a girl your age" – my ass!", she called, and Henry had to suppress a chuckle.

"Stellovet, language!", her brother heeded, and she scoffed. "You're not any better than them, you know? Do you have ANY IDEA how much harder you make things for me – HOWARD? "Oh, but your brother is so perfect" here, and "your brother did excellently" there, everyone LOVES you, EVERYONE – mom, dad, now even stupid Luxa, but who's really surprised at that, she's as PERFECT as you, after all!"

Stellovet's voice had become louder and louder throughout her little monologue, and Henry heard Howard's voice sounded more concerned than before – "That, that is not true, Stello, I am not perfect, and neither is Luxa. Why do you always judge her like you do, you barely even know her!"

He chuckled a little, "I used to think she was a brat myself, but then we got to know each other better, and I really think it was just Henry being a bad influence on her before. She is a good person, Stellovet, and maybe if you tried to get to know her as well, you'll find that yourself."

Henry grit his teeth. I wasn't a BAD INFLUENCE on Luxa, he thought, all I was, was a hundred times more fun than YOU.

Stellovet crossed her arms. "Okay, then go and be super friendly with her, like you are now, because she is so much fun and all. Go on your stupid quests together, enjoy yourselves and become BEST FRIENDS for all I care, while I sit here at home, fulfilling MOM'S expectations of me, which are essentially summed up by "be a good girl, look pretty and get married as soon as possible, so that we are finally RID of you", sound good?" Henry heard a suppressed cracking in her voice towards the end, like she was trying desperately not to cry.

"Hey, hey – who says we want to be rid of you?" Howard sounded soothing now, as well as still highly concerned. "You are my sister, Stello, and yes, you are... difficult, sometimes, but I will still love you always. And so will mom and dad, I promise."

Henry heard her sob now. "Say that all you want, but you have no idea how it's like to be me. You can do no wrong in mom's and dad's eyes, the perfect firstborn, the positive example for everything. The twins are twins – everyone loves twins, and Chim – Chim is just the little cute sweetheart that we all adore. But me? What am I, hm? Just the bratty, unimportant middle child that nobody wanted anyway."

"That is NOT TRUE!" Henry saw him grab her arm now. "I... I did not know you felt this way. I know mom and dad have high expectations of you, but they do of me as well. I can do a lot wrong in their eyes too, believe me. Especially in dad's. Why do you think I try to be so perfect always? Because it is what's expected of me."

Stellovet was silent at that, and Howard continued – "But please never assume we don't want or love you, Stello. Because we do."

She remained quiet for another moment, before finally speaking up – "I don't believe a single word you are saying. It was you calling me wretched and bad to Luxa, She told me the last time she was here. Or was she lying?" Her voice sounded challenging.

Howard sighed. "No... she wasn't lying. Look, I... I am sorry for saying that, but... maybe do yourself a favor and think about what caused me to say it. If you want to be perceived as nice, you have to act nicely too. Luxa and Nerissa have done you no harm, and they are good people, both of them. If you give them a chance, maybe you'll find you have more in common than you think – now that Henry is gone."

Stellovet hesitated for a second. "G... gone? What do you mean gone – isn't the word you were looking for "DEAD"?"

She almost sounded agitated about it, and Henry furrowed his brows, pondering on a reason for her to defend him.

Howard was apparently as confused as the exiled prince. "Well... yes... but, what difference does it –"

His sister interrupted him. "DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD!", she called, audibly distressed.

Howard was even more confused now. "But... didn't you yourself call him a rat in front of Luxa, almost a year ago?"

"ONLY I CAN BADMOUTH HIM GOT THAT?!", she screamed and ran for it, apparently to her room, Henry heard the flapping of a curtain.

Howard remained alone in the living room, shaking his head in disbelief, and the exiled prince heard him snort – "sisters..."

The dinner that followed went without complications, only Stellovet was unusually quiet, but considering what he had overheard earlier, Henry would have been surprised if she had been normal. Howard sat next to her, throwing her concerned glances, but she talked, if at all, only to her governess Daliah, a young woman in her mid-twenties, who was supposed to look after her and care for her education. Hero, Kent, and Chim, at their designated spots, were cheerful as always.

Henry himself was mostly occupied digesting the conversations he had listened in on earlier. The fact that her parents thought Stellovet was too friendly with him, amused Henry greatly. Sure, she was a little over-the-top nice when he was around, and he had further noticed she seemed to always pick out her nicest dresses when he was here, but he found her parents were exaggerating.

Maybe it was just him though, still seeing the bratty kid, that had always bullied Luxa and Nerissa, when he looked at her.

But then again, her conversation with Howard had revealed a completely different side of hers, that she had always hidden very well, throughout their childhood. Henry realized he had never even asked himself why she was the way she was, or what kind of problems she could be facing in her own home. He realized that growing up with Howard as an older brother, and four siblings, could not have been easy.

Still, he found he agreed with Howard – surprisingly enough – just because she had problems herself, it did not give her the right to take them out on others, especially people he cared about. But maybe, he thought, she's at least not as irredeemable as we all thought.

Well, he almost chuckled, I guess if I can turn from a bratty traitor into an independent, fearless warrior, then there surely is hope for Stellovet too.

After dinner, he was about to gather their things and leave. He had decided to tell Thanatos the gossip he had heard later, even if he would most likely leave a couple things out – the flier was constantly teasing him about Stellovet anyway.

"You got everything?", Thanatos asked, and Henry nodded. "Let's leave, I think I had enough human contact for a while." They both laughed.

They had left the saddle prototype at the colony, for now, it wasn't ready for the world yet. They still tried to come up with a way to improve the stability, even if Henry hadn't fallen off again, after their first test run. As of now, both of them agreed they needed to perfect the design before taking it on missions, or really anywhere.

Then, he suddenly saw two people, a bigger and a smaller silhouette, running towards them from the residence.

"Hey, wait – are you leaving already?" Henry recognized Stellovet's voice and grinned. "Escaped your parents to say goodbye?"

She blushed a little and shoved Chim, who turned out to be the smaller silhouette, towards them. "Not just me, she... she had a gift for you, that she didn't want to give you in front of our parents. Or they would start lecturing her about being "too friendly" with you as well."

"They did that to you?", he acted surprised and kneeled down before Chim. "Well, what'cha got there?"

The little girl grinned. She leaned forward, whispering – "It was actually Stello who dragged me out here, it's her who wanted to say bye, not me. I already did!"

Henry grinned at her. The family had officially seen them off together, after dinner, so she was technically not wrong.

"But pshh, don't tell her I told you, or she won't let me play with her dolls for an entire week!", Chim added, and Henry chuckled – "You still play with dolls, Stellovet?"

The teenage girl blushed more, throwing her little sister a death glare. "NO, I do NOT! Whatever she told you... SHE IS LYING! I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE!"

Henry chuckled. "Whatever you say!", then he turned back to Chim. "Your sister said you had a gift for me?"

The little girl nodded and pulled out a piece of paper. "I made it for you. So that, if mom and dad ever forbid you to come back, you don't forget us, okay?"

Henry unfolded it and saw it was a drawing. Thanatos glanced over his shoulder and grinned – "Aww, that is sweet of you. I LOVE the way you drew your siblings."

"Thanks Than!", she called and hugged his face. Only Chim was allowed to abbreviate his name, Henry thought and grinned, before being caught in a hug from the little girl as well.

"Well, he is not wrong" Henry grinned while staring at the picture after she had let go of him. Chim was six, and her drawing was not the best, skill-wise, but it surely was an accurate representation of her family. Howard was so tall, his legs were the entire length of Stellovet, whose hair reached to the floor, and who wore a beautiful, flowing gown.

Hero and Kent were almost identical, the only difference being, Hero's hair was long and she wore a dress. Chim herself had a wide grin plastered over her face, and she was standing next to Henry, who wore an almost evil smirk and, of course, the eyepatch and his fur coat. Behind him was Thanatos, spreading his wings. She had drawn the exiled prince holding Charos, which was as tall as himself.

The other arm, Henry saw, he had around Stellovet, and when he asked Chim about it she just grinned and shrugged. "She would like that", was all she said, and Henry and Thanatos both broke into vigorous laughter.

"I would like what?", Stellovet asked, and Henry quickly hid the picture, winking at Chim. If he showed her sister, she'd surely punish her for drawing it, and out of all the Fount-siblings, he had recently found Chim was his favorite.

"Well, it was nice seeing you two, but we really have to get going now", he grinned and tipped an imaginary hat to them. Stellovet threw him a big smile, and he inevitably asked himself if her obvious crush on him would disintegrate instantly, the moment she found out he was Henry, and not some mysterious, powerful, alluring stranger.

Then again, Henry pondered, there was the whole thing with her "Only I am allowed to badmouth him" – claim. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"Back to the colony!" Henry called, while Thanatos had already lifted off. He leaned back casually on his back, letting his feet dangle next to the flier's face.

"Back... to the colony." The flier sounded not nearly as enthusiastic as his rider.

"What do you say – do they look like they want to be ground to dust?" Henry whispered to Thanatos' ear, while they were cowering on the side of the arena filled with rats.

The familiar anticipation of battle overcame him, and Charos in his hand itched for a fight.

"Oh absolutely. You?", his flier answered, and Henry felt him tense up in preparation for the battle.

"Always."

Nearly two months had passed since the two had finally left the nibbler colony, to go back to the Dead Land. It had been a sad goodbye, but they had all known extending their stay even more was not an option.

Henry knew he would miss the nibblers, and he would miss the missions to the Fount, but life went on. Maybe, if he didn't show up for a while, York would stop whining about him being there too much either. And for all it was worth, he would still have Chim's drawing of them to cherish.

As they had no idea where Longclaw had disappeared to, the Dead Land had been a good place to start. And fighting in an arena seemed like the most reasonable occupation, while no mercenary jobs were coming in. So, they had returned to the place where it had all began – to the arena run by Splintleg, where they had been forced to fight Sizzleblood, more than a year ago.

The scarred gnawer had been extremely surprised to see them, after a year, and almost not recognized them either. When Henry had announced they wished to become champions, he had been even more surprised. But after a swift demonstration of their abilities – and a little bit of threateningly holding Charos to his throat – he had agreed fairly quickly.

He had even offered to conveniently forget that Cleaver had accused Henry of killing Gorger, all those months ago, and Henry told him to just introduce them as the Death Rider – to avoid any more unwanted recognitions.

Ever since then they had fought and won maybe twenty battles in his arena, over the course of the last two months. And when they weren't fighting, they were doing jobs or experimenting more with the saddle. They had still not found a suitable solution for the stability problem, mainly because they had focused on other things recently.

They were still determined to track and bring Longclaw to justice, Henry had to admit one of the reasons why he had insisted on coming here was because he had hoped they would at some point be able to pick up a trace of their enemy, through one of Splintleg's visitors.

"... against our one and only flier-human duo champion, THE DEATH RIDER!" Henry heard Splintleg's voice, and Thanatos lifted off, flying a circle around the arena, accompanied by cheering.

The exiled prince felt the familiar sensation of power and the approval of the audience fill him and grinned. It was so different, he realized, from when he had fought in Longclaw's arena alone. Back then, it had been a means of escaping his own screaming thoughts, and maybe a way to override emotional with physical pain – now their only reasons were the rewards, the glory – and the heck of it.

The time of adventures wasn't over, was Henry's last thought, like I had feared back then. They had only just begun. Then he stopped thinking – and fought.

This battle was won swiftly, like most others, and as payment, Splintleg awarded them a stack of furs and leather. Henry rejoiced, he thought it gave him the materials to work on the saddle more.

"I don't think this made it any better, but if you insist... I told you I won't argue because of this anymore." Thanatos rolled his eyes as they flew out onto the waterway.

Recently, they had conducted all their saddle experiments over the ocean, ever since Henry had fallen off during their first attempt, Thanatos had insisted on it. For safety reasons.

"Well, at least you're keeping to your word", Henry muttered, strapping on the belt that connected to the saddle now. "Look, now I am as tied up as you are, does that make you feel any better?" They both laughed.

But when Henry tried out the rotating function again, he discovered the belt was not enough. It was his legs, that were dangling all over the place and hindering both him and Thanatos from moving properly.

"How do I fix this?", he muttered angrily, trying to untie the mess that faulty planning of strings had gotten him into.

"You need to find a way to lock your legs in place. I don't think me or you will be able to work with a rotating saddle unless that is taken care of", Thanatos said, while landing close to the cave where they had slept, ever since they had come back to the Dead Land.

"Yes, yes, but how?" Henry had finally managed to get out of the mess of strings and sat down, frustratedly fetching his sketchbook. "I want this to work so badly, you know?"

"I know, I know. It will... eventually", Thanatos muttered, before flying out to catch fish for dinner.

He had just gotten back, with four big fish in his mouth, when Henry suddenly heard a noise. The flier had noticed it as well, but before Henry was able to fetch a weapon, he saw it was only a crawler, hiding behind one of the rocks that guarded the entrance to their cave.

"Hey, you, are you looking for us?", Thanatos asked while approaching him cautiously.

The crawler came out from behind the rock and only now, Henry saw he was carrying a scroll of leather. "I have a message for the Wielder of Light and the Rider of Death, I have a message. It is urgent, it is."

Henry frowned, taking the scroll from the crawler. "Who sent you?"

"The humans from the Fount, the humans", he responded, and Henry exchanged confused glances with Thanatos. Why would York and Susannah send for him, when they had some sort of problem?

He unrolled the scroll eagerly and started reading. The message was short and to the point, and Henry's expression became more and more dire the further he read. When he had finished it, he let the scroll snap shut. "We need to leave. Now."

Thanatos threw him a confused glance. "What does it say?"

Henry stood up already, readying himself to depart. "It's Longclaw."


	21. Quest

"They came out of nowhere", Dalia was almost crying. Her entire body trembled even though the entire thing had happened two days ago.

Luxa's face was still as stone. She and Gregor were sitting next to Howard, Hero, Kent, and Chim, and she was firmly gripping Hazard's hand.

When Henry had arrived back at the Fount, around a day after he had received the letter, he had been surprised to find them there. Luxa had explained, she had planned to show Gregor and Hazard around more, especially the planes around the lakes, that surrounded the settlement. They had already been at the Fount, when it had happened, and had postponed their departure back to Regalia immediately, that had been scheduled for today, upon hearing of the incident.

Susannah was visibly shaken as well, York had an arm around her, his face was tense and worried. He was probably blaming himself, Henry thought, after all, he had most likely been the one who had sent Stellovet out with Dalia in the first place.

The governess cleared her throat. Henry noticed she was staring at the floor – she was probably feeling as guilty as him. "There... there were three rats, they surrounded us before we even knew what was happening. Tyler and Orin were dead within seconds, the guards, that were supposed to protect us."

She started kneading her hands. "Their leader stepped forward towards me, while the other two restrained... Stellovet and dragged her off. She was screaming and kicking, but..." Dalia's voice broke and she started sobbing, "the... the leader grabbed me and... and..." she entirely burst into tears. Howard, wearing a grave expression, stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "It is not your fault, Dalia, please speak on."

It took her a second to gather herself before she was able to continue – "He grabbed me and... and told me they would send me back, to deliver a message to you", she looked at York and Susannah, "and you as well, Your Majesty. They... they said they knew you were here, and that I should warn you." Luxa's face grew even more dire when Dalia addressed her.

The governess cleared her throat – "If you ever wish to see your cousin... and your daughter again", she first glanced at Luxa, then at Stellovet's parents, "you are to send...", her gaze met Henry, "the Death Rider to the gnawer arena at the outskirts of the Firelands. If you instead alerted the army, she would die within hours, he threatened." Dalia wiped her eyes, "He further said I should mention that...", she hesitated, still looking at Henry, "Longclaw sends his regards. Whatever that means to you."

Henry and Thanatos exchanged glances. They had been the ones who had wanted to hunt Longclaw down, but instead, he had turned it around and caught up to them. They had waited too long, and now, others had to suffer because of their feud.

Henry stepped forward. "It means a lot, actually. This guy, Longclaw, he's... an old friend of ours, who we should have taken out long ago, but now he's dragged all of you into our feud. We apologize for that."

It hadn't been easy to say this, but one gaze at York and Susannah, another at huddled together Hero, Kent, and Chim – and a last at trembling Dalia were enough to make him wish he had slit Longclaw's throat back in the ice caves.

York raised his voice, it was drenched with concern and pain. "I have heard that name before... Longclaw. Wasn't he a general of Gorger's, whom the king banished for trying to usurp him?"

Henry nodded. "But seems like exile has only made him stronger. Last time we saw him, a few months ago, he had a whole armada of followers. We did kill most of them by collapsing the cave that they were in, but it seems like he has already regained his strength. I am certain he is out for the crown of the gnawers, as certain as I am that he wants our heads on poles in front of his new palace." He exchanged a grim look with Thanatos.

"You mean to say, this whole fiasco with kidnapping Stellovet is a trap... for you?", Luxa suddenly spoke, "That seems a little far-fetched, don't you think? Why doesn't he target you directly? Why take the detour through... my family?" Henry was barely able to hold her firm, inquiring gaze.

"I... I have no idea. Maybe he believes we are too elusive for a direct attack, and... I mean, how else would he lure us in? It's not like there are many things he could use against us... the few non-human friends we have are well-protected", he thought of Teslas and the nibbler colony in the jungle, the rats would have to pass the Vineyard of Eyes to get to them.

Then there was Kismet, but he thought it was easier to traverse the Vineyard then to mess with her. "And then there is you all", he threw Luxa a glance, "The... how did you call it, Gregor?", he pondered for a second, "the questers."

Luxa silently stared at him for a second, then she shrugged. "I suppose you will walk into his trap then. To save my... cousin."

Henry exchanged another glance with Thanatos. "We are not only doing this for Stellovet", he decided, "this is also our chance to finally get Longclaw. The world would be better off without him."

"Well, do it for whatever reason you want, I am doing it for my sister", a different voice suddenly spoke and all heads turned in Howard's direction. He had stepped forward, regarding the Death Rider quickly. "I am coming with you."

Henry had already opened his mouth to protest when York addressed his son. "I wanted to suggest you accompanying them myself, thank you, Howard. Please make sure your sister is brought home safely."

Henry's head jolted in his direction, mouth agape. "B...but...", but Howard ignored him and turned to Luxa. "Don't you and the warrior want to join us as well? We could use all the help we can get."

Henry blinked a few times, trying to process that if he wouldn't do something now, his revenge mission against Longclaw would turn into a full-fledged mini-quest.

Luxa shifted in her seat nervously. "I... didn't this Longclaw say to not alert Regalia?" It was obvious she did not want to risk her life for Stellovet, who had bullied her in the past. Not that Henry could really blame her.

But then, a different, tiny voice spoke. "This girl... is she our family?" Hazard was squeezing her hand, looking up at her with his emotional, green eyes.

Luxa stared at him for a second, unable to answer. Howard did for her – "You... yes, you both are related to her. To us. And besides, he only warned of sending the army, not the future queen herself."

"Then you should go help save her", the little boy continued, "as you would save me. You... would save me, wouldn't you?"

"Of course", Luxa's voice was breaking, she threw a last glance at Hazard, then looked up at Howard. "Fine. Gregor and I will come."

The Overlander next to her jolted around, looking like he wanted to say "I never consented to that!", but when he saw Luxa's pleading eyes, Gregor sighed. "Fine. Boots is in Regalia anyway, with mom, and... this, this won't take longer than like a few days, will it?" He eyed Henry.

The exiled prince pondered, "The arena... that is in the uncharted land east of the jungle, I know my way around there fairly well. It's maybe two, three days if we fly, depending on how many breaks your fliers need and what route we decide on."

"In the uncharted land...", Luxa murmured, "Can you lead us?", and Henry nodded, "I can. And I will."

Howard furrowed his brows, mumbling something about how it was madness to follow the lead of an outcast, and that into unknown territory, but he was clearly overruled.

Then, someone else cleared her throat suddenly. "I will come too. This whole fiasco wouldn't have happened, hadn't I taken Stellovet out. Had I... protected her better." All eyes were now on Dalia, who had spoken and Stellovet's parents exchanged glances.

"It is decided then", York concluded, "go will the Death Rider, Howard, Luxa, Gregor, Dalia – and their fliers, Thanatos, Ares, and Aurora, I assume? My son has no bond anymore, neither does Dalia, but three fliers will surely suffice."

"The less people the better, actually", Henry muttered, but nobody took the hint. He sighed – this was just fantastic. Now he feared he would have to babysit a whole party of people who traversed the lands for the first time, and would surely act as a trouble magnet, as usual.

"Come, Death, we should decide on a route", he poked Thanatos. "You others go pack... if you really need to all come..." He glanced at Howard, but Stellovet's brother didn't even notice. He was already shoving Gregor and Luxa out of the room, to prepare for the trip.

Gregor fumbled around with the straps of the backpack he had been given. This time, he hadn't had the opportunity to look through the museum in Regalia to prepare for the journey. All he had was a singular flashlight with two batteries, that he had packed for the trip to the Fount, and the small one Mrs. Cormachi had given him, around a year ago.

Gregor sighed. He was just happy he wouldn't have to explain this trip to his mom. She was safely in Regalia – well, as safe as she could be, with the plague still in her system. And while he usually disliked being separated from Boots, now she was with his mom, so it was alright.

The plague... he wondered when she'd finally be rid of it. Gregor felt like an eternity had passed since she had last been home, although if it had not even been a year. Still... a year without his mom at home was a year too much, he thought.

He was over the moon that Ares was finally out of the hospital though, even strong enough to come with them on this trip. Gregor still vividly remembered the image of Ares that had made him throw up, back when he had first seen him in the hospital. He had had almost given up hope, but Ares had pulled through. Gregor smiled, of course, he had.

"Are you coming? The Death Rider called, he said he wanted to discuss the route with us", Luxa suddenly stood in the doorway to the room he had been sleeping in, over his visit at the Fount.

Gregor sighed. "Why did you even drag me into this? Like, why... why are we going on this trip at all?" He furrowed his brows. Gregor clearly remembered Howard's sister, how she had made that remark about Henry to Luxa. "You don't even like Stellovet, do you?"

It wasn't like he wanted her to die or suffer by the claws of the rats, but he thought the Death Rider and Howard could just as well go save her on their own.

Luxa sighed. "I... How would I have explained refusing to help save someone from my family to Hazard?"

"Not all family is good family though. We can be related to someone bad, too." He primarily thought of Henry and his betrayal.

Luxa sighed, apparently she had gotten the hint. "I know. But...", she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "at some point... I realized I had lost so much of my family that I decided I did not want to lose any more."

Gregor was silent at that. He suddenly remembered how many people she had lost already, her parents, Hamnet... and Henry. It was perfectly understandable that she would try to hold on to anyone who was left, be they mean like Stellovet.

"Besides, if I understood the Death Rider correctly, this Longclaw could be a dangerous future enemy. If you have truly averted the Bane's fate of becoming the new king by sending him to Ripred, maybe the world would have Longclaw take his place. I must do everything in my power to avoid that, I have to protect my people." She sounded grave serious as she tugged at the golden ribbon around her head.

Gregor sighed. He understood her decision, at least to an extent. Though he still wanted to ask why she had dragged HIM into the quest, he decided to remain silent for now. He saw the worry in her eyes and thought she had enough problems already.

"Hey, it'll be fine, okay?" He carefully put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get through this. We got through everything so far, didn't we?"

She threw him a short smile. "Yes. We did. Thank you for... coming with me, too. I realize you did not make that decision yourself."

Gregor shrugged, pretending to be fine with it. "Eh, it's whatever. I can't just send you away with a bunch of strangers, even if Howard is there, can I now?"

Luxa looked up. "Do you not trust the Death Rider?"

"Do you?", Gregor asked, after some hesitation. Luxa averted her eyes. "I... I do not want to. I have no reason to. I mean", she hesitated, "we do not even know his real name. But strangely enough, I found that I do."

"I think he's a good guy", Gregor said, hand still on her shoulder, "He saved me and Twitchtip, back on the waterway, remember? And he did it without even knowing us or having any reason besides saving a life. A bad person wouldn't do that, don't you think?" Gregor suddenly remembered what she had disclosed to him in the jungle, how he reminded her of someone she... used to know, like she had said.

Luxa hummed approvingly, before turning around. "They will be waiting for us." Gregor nodded and they stepped out of the room, starting to walk towards the main hall.

"Alright, after some consideration, Death and I have agreed on a route that should be safe. Should be, because what is really safe, here in the Underland." The Death Rider grinned a little, before unrolling a big map across the table in the main hall. Gregor had to suppress an eye-roll. The outcast was not wrong.

They were all standing around the map now, the space around the table was so crowded, Gregor felt Luxa's shoulder touching his on the left, and Ares' fur brush his right side. On Luxa's other side were Aurora and Dalia, next to Ares stood Howard and Thanatos, the Death Rider in the middle.

The outcast now took out some sort of pencil, leaned over the table and drew an "x" on a spot beyond the map, somewhere east of the Fount. It lied behind the jungle, apparently, and Luxa asked "Will we have to cross the jungle to get there?", but he shook his head.

"Death and I agree that it is safer to travel on the outskirts of the Firelands. We can follow the border of the two lands almost exactly until we reach this tunnel here", he drew a line, leading away from a different "x" he had marked, south of the arena.

"The "x" here marks the citadel, a crawler colony we know fairly well, and the line leading away from it is a big tunnel called Path of Styx. It leads further into the Firelands, but it has many side-entrances and -exits. Instead of taking the detour through the citadel, we enter it through a passage about here", he drew a shorter line, about almost exactly where the Path of Styx crossed from the designated Dead Land territory into the Firelands.

"And that tunnel is safe?" Howard raised an eyebrow.

"Fairly. For Underland-standards." The Death Rider grinned. "I mean, I've traversed it many times, with and without Thanatos. We'll be fine. Besides", he raised an eyebrow on Howard himself, "it's not like you HAVE to come."

Howard was silent at that, and the outcast turned back to the map. "We can fly from here to the Path of Styx in one go, it'll take a few hours but the way is fairly safe. From then on, things get a little tricky."

He explained that the Path of Styx itself was big enough for the bats, but the side tunnel, they would have to exit through, was fairly narrow. "The fliers won't fit, especially Ares and Death. But the pass is not long, that is narrow. Maybe half an hour on foot. We will have to carry them. Just be ready for that."

Luxa and Gregor exchanged glances. "Is it not easier to take the long way around?", she finally asked, eyeing her bond Aurora, who uncomfortably shifted at the thought of being carried.

"Is it so bad?", Gregor whispered to Ares, and his bat shook his head. "It is unfamiliar, that is all. But it depends much on how you carry us."

"It would cost us an additional day", the Death Rider said. "We'd have to take the detour through the entire Path of Styx to the citadel. I assume we do not want this trip to take any longer than absolutely necessary?"

Gregor shifted nervously. He definitely didn't like the idea of an avoidable detour. "Is there any way to carry the bats comfortably?", he asked.

The outcast nodded. "I have already asked Susannah and York to provide us with foldable litters, the fliers should be perfectly fine." He threw Thanatos a glance.

"And from then?" Howard asked. The Death Rider turned back to the map. "There is a lake at the end of that passage, we will make camp for the night there. The next day, we should reach the arena in maybe half an hour's flight. But I assume you all want to be refreshed when facing the enemy, and the lake is the safest place to camp around there. If you don't disturb the pinchers, that have their territory on the other side of it, that is."

Ares must have noticed Gregor's confused face and whispered "Pinchers. Some call them... lobsters, I believe. They are usually reclused, they aren't hostile per se, but they don't like intruders."

Gregor started kneading his hands. Great – giant lobsters too, now. What would be next? Snails? Scorpions? Dung beetles?

The Death Rider asked the bats if they wanted to depart right away or get some rest first. Ares, Thanatos, and Aurora said they were perfectly fine, so he suggested the humans slept during the flight.

Gregor helped load the food, they would take, into two big backpacks, as well as the bags tied around Thanatos' lower body. "That's a useful contraption", he commented to the Death Rider, who was staring at the map again.

He grinned. "Wait until you see what we are working on at the moment. It's not fleshed out yet, but soon."

Gregor smiled, "I guess I'll see soon then", left him to his thoughts and approached Ares, after having heaved one of the bags onto his back, together with Dalia. "I'll be riding with you if you don't mind. Howard will ride with Luxa", she addressed his bat.

Gregor exchanged glances with Ares. "You are welcome to do so", the big black bat said, and Gregor and Dalia mounted up.

He had not exchanged many words with the young woman yet, in truth, he had been introduced to her once, before today, and that had been it. Gregor thought she was maybe nineteen or twenty, short and somewhat delicate looking, but quite pretty. Her hair was tied to a braid that was fastened around her head into an intricate-looking updo.

But now that Gregor saw her up-close, he couldn't help but notice the big, purple circles around her eyes and realized she wasn't just lean, but extremely skinny, to the point where it looked unhealthy.

Despite how bad she looked, she had thrown him a big smile, and he wondered if Stellovet's abduction had been harder on her than she let on.

Gregor glanced over to Aurora and saw Luxa tug at her sword, and Howard sorting through a medical kit. He had not had the opportunity to talk to him much, over the last months, but his mom, who had gotten to know him during their shared stay at the hospital had said, he had talked about becoming a doctor.

When Gregor eyed Howard now, he clearly saw the marks the plague had left and understood why he wanted to make helping the sick his life's duty, after having almost died to a disease himself. "Maybe you'll be a doctor too, someday", his mom had said, and Gregor had only shifted uncomfortably. He had not even remotely considered what he wanted to be when he grew up. He always felt like he already had a job – warrior.

But someone with any kind of medical expertise would be useful on a quest, Gregor thought, and found he was happy Howard had at least found his true calling through the plague.

Soon, Ares and Aurora had lifted off, after Thanatos who followed the river for now. Gregor turned to catch a glimpse at Luxa, but all he saw was Howard's back, as Ares was flying a little behind Aurora.

"So, who is he, the... Death Rider? Do you know him any better than I?" When Dalia addressed him, Gregor almost shrieked. "I... well, he's... uh...", he had never been good at talking to strangers.

After some stammering, Ares saved him by taking over explaining how they had first met the outcast over the waterway. Gregor continued, fired up by his bat, how they had seen him again in the jungle and how he had led them through the Vineyard of Eyes.

When he had finished, Dalia giggled. "He has told us versions of those stories, but I assume yours are more truthful and less – well, exaggerated, if that is the correct word?" Gregor chuckled, he could imagine the Death Rider was the kind of person to exaggerate on their heroic stories.

"But we haven't seen him in forever, before he suddenly showed up at the Fount, maybe two months ago. He seems so... changed." Gregor had never dared ask the outcast what had happened, in what had been more than half a year, after he had helped them in the jungle. But when he had first seen him again, two months ago, he had barely recognized him.

It hadn't just been that his hair was longer and he wore new clothes, it had been... more than that. There was something... new, and almost... dark, in his eye, like it had seen terrible things. Further, Gregor had noticed, now almost every inch of the parts of his skin he had seen was covered in fresh scars. His arms, his hands, and even his face. He had wanted to ask what had happened to him, but he had never found the time or opportunity.

Further, he had not heard him complain about his eye anymore, like he had back in the jungle. Hadn't he even claimed it rendered him almost unable to fight? Now he carried with him a sword as tall as Gregor himself and even though he had not seen the outcast fight yet, why else would he have it? Had he found a solution to his problem? How and when?

Gregor found himself searching for the Death Rider in the darkness ahead with his eyes, as they flew. He was carrying no light and yet Thanatos seemed to know the way. Gregor himself had also decided to conserve his batteries and trust the bats for now.

He and Dalia agreed to lie down and sleep for a while, eventually, they managed to arrange themselves with each other so that they lied back to back, after a little toing and froing. Gregor fell asleep almost immediately, to his own surprise. But the day had been long and he had been more tired than he had realized, so he dozed off very quickly.

When Gregor opened his eyes again, he was lying on solid ground. In the light of the campfire someone had lit, he saw the silhouettes of Ares and Aurora, pressed together for sleep, against the opposite wall. Thanatos was hanging a little to the right, his eyes were closed too.

The rest of the group had assembled around the fire and when Gregor rose, the Death Rider turned around to him, holding what turned out to be a pot with some sort of stew, that smelled delicious.

"Want any dinner?", he grinned, and Gregor quickly took a seat between Howard and Luxa. They were already enjoying the meal and Luxa mumbled it was some of the best quest-food she had ever eaten.

"Where... are we now?", Gregor mumbled, glancing around. They had made camp in some sort of cave, it was fairly big and had several exits. "Are we in that... Path of Styx already?"

The outcast grabbed another plate and brought it to Gregor, along with one for himself. "It lies just ahead, actually. We simply need to follow that tunnel and it will lead us straight in. But the fliers were tired, so I decided to make camp here and continue tomorrow."

Gregor stared into the tunnel opening, slightly uncomfortable. But the Death Rider interrupted his dire thoughts by asking – "Sandwiches, anyone?", and everyone immediately helped themselves.

Dalia, who had apparently helped prepare the meal, took the empty sandwich plate to be washed and only then sat down with them. Gregor remembered she was considered a servant, and therefore expected to do the chores, even on quests.

He glanced at Luxa, remembering how Mareth had been the same, both during the first and the second trip, and how she and Henry had not even known how to make themselves a sandwich.

He decided to ask if Dalia needed any help with the dishes after dinner, but the Death Rider took over, he and the young woman collected the empty plates, he stored the food away and she washed them. His sympathy for the outcast rose. At last, someone who is not conceited to the point where he treats servants as lowly, he thought.

"Alright, bedtime everyone! The fliers already lie sleeping, you should follow their lead." The outcast called, not overly loud, as to not wake the bats, but still commandeering enough. "I will take first watch, later I'll wake Death to take over for me."

Gregor looked at him, in the dim light of the fire, and noticed he looked fairly exhausted himself. He had most likely spent the entire flight planning the trip, while Gregor had slept through most of it.

"Hey, I... I could take the watch instead", he raised his voice and everyone turned to him. Gregor nervously shifted, "I slept through most of the flight, so I'm not tired. You should get some rest yourself."

The Death Rider eyed him, as did Howard and Luxa, Gregor noticed. He realized they were probably still thinking about how he had fallen asleep during his watch on the waterway. "Hey, I am not tired, I just said. I can –"

Then, someone else interrupted him – "If you take first watch, I take second. I slept a lot as well", Dalia's voice was clear and determined.

The outcast put his hands to his hips. "It's settled then. Gregor takes first watch, Dalia second. Everyone else – to bed. Now."

"Hey, who made you the boss, actually?", Howard grumbled, but the outcast shot him a glare. "Your future queen over there asked me to lead you. I took the liberty to interpret "lead" as more than just "show you the way". If you have any problems with that, over there is the way back", he pointed towards the exit of the cave. "Be my guest."

Howard simply shot him a death glare before reluctantly lying down.

"He sure knows how to make Howard hate him", Luxa chuckled, after the Death Rider had extinguished the fire and lied down next to Thanatos to sleep.

Gregor nodded. "He... he is fairly bossy. But at least he does not consider himself above chores. Dalia would have had to do everything herself, hadn't he helped, just because she's a servant."

Gregor noticed Luxa shifting uncomfortably. "D... do you think I should have offered my help?"

He realized he had made her feel bad and quickly added – "No, I think it's fine, I just... I just thought it was nice to see he helped her."

"That is true", Luxa answered.

They remained silent for a while. "Gregor I'll go to sleep, okay?", he heard her voice again, maybe a minute later. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

He agreed. "Well, good night then."

Gregor remained sitting next to her, eyes wide open, determined to stay awake. Maybe, he thought, he could try and practice echolocation. The thought almost made him giggle. As if that would ever work.


	22. Black and White

Henry decided to let the party sleep for almost seven hours. When he himself woke up, he joined Dalia in keeping watch for a while, before they took to preparing breakfast.

Henry fetched his cooking utensils and instructed Dalia on how to make sandwiches. He almost shook his head at the absurdity – back during the quest for the Prophecy of Gray he had refused to even prepare food for himself, now he had switched to babysitting the entire gang. Oh well, times changed, and so did people.

"Thank you for helping me", he suddenly heard Dalia's quiet voice and he turned around to her, after having lit the fire. "Don't mention it. I'm used to caring for myself, so it's not really a big deal."

Henry chuckled internally at the face his younger self would have most likely made if he could have heard himself say that now. Henry, the prince of Regalia – cooking. What a miracle.

While working, the exiled prince realized he had never even spoken to Stellovet's governess properly. "Hey, you like working for York and Susannah?", he asked, giving her his most enthusiastic smile.

She just shrugged. "It is... alright. Most of the time."

Only now Henry noticed the purple bags under her eyes and how she was so skinny he could have counted her ribs. An image of himself flashed in his mind, the face in the waterfall. But... Dalia was not an outcast. She had a roof over her head and most certainly enough to eat. He was just about to open his mouth to ask her if something was wrong when a voice interrupted him from behind – "Hey, morning to you. Need any help?"

Luxa was up, grinning at them and Henry grinned back. "Sure. Mind helping Dalia with the sandwiches? She's never made any before."

His cousin nodded and cheerfully skipped over to the young woman, who was only slightly taller than her, and they got to work. Soon, Henry woke up the rest of them and handed out breakfast.

"So, what's the plan for today?", Howard asked while chewing on his sandwich. "If I remember correctly, you said something about having to carry the fliers."

Henry nodded. "That's later though. First, ahead lies the Path of Styx." He smiled when he remembered how he and Thanatos had first traversed it, in search of Kismet.

The party quickly finished up their meal and got ready to leave. "Hey, listen, if you want, we can switch seats, Howard", Henry suddenly heard Gregor behind him. Howard snorted, "Why would I want that? And besides, Ares is your bond, is he not? Why would you want to ride on anyone but him?"

Gregor started stuttering and Henry had to suppress a giggle. Because he wants to ride with Luxa, you dimwit, he almost shouted at Howard but held back – barely.

The exiled prince sighed, seemed like he was up. "Howard, don't be ridiculous. You can ride a flier even if they are not your bond. Besides, I'd like you with me on Thanatos, throughout this next part, there are a few things we need to go over, concerning some details of the trip."

Henry was staring at Howard, trying to not let it show he was making all of that up on the go. But it was very obvious Howard knew exactly why Gregor wanted to switch and was deliberately trying to prevent him from riding with Luxa. And Henry couldn't just let him get away with that, could he now? He would come up with SOMETHING to occupy Luxa's cousin with. Probably.

Howard threw him a very accusing glance, like he had guessed why Henry had done this, but had no choice but to go along with it. "Sure", he muttered with gritted teeth and grabbed his medical kit and his bag.

From the corner of his eye, Henry saw Gregor throwing him an overjoyed glance, and he tried to wink at him – not an easy task, with just one eye – but he was fairly certain he had gotten the message across. Make it count, he wanted to yell at him, but couldn't, for obvious reasons.

They had been flying for about half an hour, and so far, Henry had managed to occupy Howard with minor planning problems, like the rationing of food, the order of watch, when they would go to sleep again, and what to do if they encountered pinchers.

Howard seemed to know exactly that it was all a scam to get him to let Gregor have his seat, but he couldn't do anything, which was most likely the worst part for him.

Henry found it beyond weird, being on a quest again. There was no prophecy or anything this time, but just having Luxa and Gregor and all of them around was... something he had almost not thought would ever happen again, Henry realized.

Last night, Thanatos had mocked how the tables had turned for him – from the baby to the sitter, the flier had said, and they both had laughed. Ripred would not believe his eyes, Henry thought proudly. Well, if he would find out it's me – which can never happen.

When he finally ran out of planning problems, he started simply asking Howard questions – if he was already stuck on a bat with him, he might as well make the best out of it.

"What's with the medkit?", he wanted to know, he didn't remember Howard ever showing interest in medicine before.

To his surprise, Luxa's cousin disclosed he had decided to become a doctor, after having survived the plague. "I want to help people who suffer like I have – not that YOU would understand."

Henry knew it had supposed to be an insult, but he realized Howard wasn't wrong. "I don't, but oh well, it's okay. I'm perfectly fine with being a great warrior instead, though I can totally see you as a doctor."

"How can you say that, you barely know me!", Howard claimed, and Henry just shrugged silently. He couldn't really say anything to that without revealing who he was now, could he?

"So, how did you sleep?" Gregor asked, trying to find a spot to hold on, on Aurora's back, without compromising Luxa's personal space. He had most likely stared a little too much, throughout breakfast, until Ares had poked him in the side, asking if he wouldn't want to switch seats with Howard for the next part of the trip.

He had had not really thought the question through, when he had asked, and hadn't the Death Rider jumped in, he would have embarrassed himself to the bone, Gregor knew that perfectly well. He had no idea why the outcast had helped him, but he decided he would try to keep that in mind, when – if – he would ever ask him for a favor.

Luxa simply shrugged. "Fine. I sleep best in my own bed."

Gregor couldn't really argue with that, after all, he felt the same, even if his bed was squeezed into what had supposed to be a storage room and way too small for it.

They spent the rest of the flight mindlessly chatting about random things, though Gregor enjoyed her company a lot. He always enjoyed Luxa's company more than that of others, in recent times, and suddenly asked himself why. Sure, they were good friends at this point, but he had many friends in the Underland. Why was she so special?

When the Death Rider finally signaled them to land, Gregor stared into a tiny opening, maybe three or four feet wide. Was that their way?

"From this point on we carry the fliers. I will take the lead, behind me Gregor, then Dalia, Howard, and Luxa will take the rear." He fumbled around at Thanatos belt pockets and fetched the litters York and Susannah had given them. The bats exchanged nervous glances before lying down at last. "Hey, this is much more pleasant than that thing you used to carry me around with when I had broken my wing", Thanatos addressed his rider and the outcast elbowed him. "Yea, because I didn't make this one myself."

He instructed Howard, who was the only one who would have to help carry two of the bats, to take the back of Ares' and the front of Aurora's litter with a hand each and walk sideways when Gregor fetched his flashlight. "Hey, you... might need this, if you'll walk at the front." He held it out to the outcast, demonstrating the way it worked.

The Death Rider took it, switched it on and off a couple of times, then grinned at Gregor. "Thanks, this will help. Alright, everyone ready?", he called, taking up the front of Thanatos' litter.

They formed a caravan in the previously announced order now, and one by one entered the narrow tunnel. The outcast led the way, shining the flashlight ahead so that they could see.

They had to take a break in between because the bats were heavy and the tunnel at one point became so narrow, Gregor's elbows grazed both walls when he walked normally. Thankfully, it widened again quickly, and after maybe half an hour of walking, they finally reached the end.

The Death Rider switched off the flashlight and Gregor was about to ask him why, when he walked out into the giant cave that lied at the end of the tunnel himself, and his jaw dropped.

The outcast had talked about a lake, but Gregor had had no idea it would be this beautiful. Apparently, there was a lava pool directly beneath the water and it glowed in bright, beautiful orange.

Everyone was now admiring the lake, Howard had approached to feel if the water was warm, Luxa was kneeling at the shore, staring at the scenery and Dalia's eyes were wide-open and filled with awe. Only the Death Rider was unphased by the beauty, presumably because he had been here who knew how many times before. He used the time to pack away the litters and fetch their dinner.

"Actually, we're having fish today. Howard and I agreed we should save the food, considering we have fresh fish right here", he answered when Luxa asked why he hadn't opened the supply stash yet. "And don't worry, I won't serve it to you raw!", he laughed, and Luxa giggled too.

Half an hour later, Gregor had eaten one entire grilled fish the bats had caught in the lake. He was stuffed and tired, suppressing a yawn he hoped the Death Rider wouldn't ask him to keep watch again.

"Don't worry, we'll split it between those who haven't kept watch last time", the outcast answered when Gregor asked him. "Howard will take first, Luxa second and I'll take third myself. We'll let the fliers rest, and in about seven hours we press on."

"We're almost there, aren't we?" Luxa's voice sounded from behind, and the outcast nodded. "The arena is maybe a half an hour flight from here."

Great, Gregor thought, today had been a rather peaceful day – for a quest – he could already tell that there would be trouble tomorrow. He sighed while spreading the blanket he had brought, to sleep on, on the floor.

"Not much of a fan of battles?", a voice asked from behind and he jolted around. There stood Dalia, with a couple dirty plates in her hands, that she was most likely about to wash in the lake.

Gregor chuckled. "Is it weird if I say yes, considering they call me the warrior?"

She smiled at him. "Well, kind of. Though... we often do not choose our fate, instead, it chooses us."

He suddenly found he liked Dalia more and more. "Tell me about it", Gregor sighed, then, quickly glancing at the plates, he added – "eh, do you need help with these?"

He looked around, Luxa and Howard were talking at the lake, Ares and Aurora had already cuddled up to sleep and the outcast and Thanatos had spread a map on the floor and were debating something – there was nobody else willing to help her.

Dalia simply shrugged. "If... it is not too much trouble..."

"Not at all", Gregor rose, "you can't just do all the work alone all the time. It's not fair."

"Oh, I am used to it", she smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Besides, the Death Rider helped me earlier."

"I saw. I still don't think it's fair. Hey, what do you say, next time we make Howard and Luxa do the dishes while we sit down to talk, okay?" He grinned at her, and she smiled, though averted her eyes, like in shame. "I... I don't think it's appropriate to sit on the side while a future queen does your work."

"And I don't think it's APPROPRIATE to let one person do it all, just because they aren't born special." There were quite a lot of things Gregor liked about the Underland and its people – but the whole monarchy part wasn't one of them.

Gregor had just finished the dishes, together with Dalia, when he heard Howard speak to Luxa – "You should really get to bed now, you all should. Tomorrow will be a hard day."

Gregor saw Luxa nod at Howard and stand up. He had first watch, so he remained at the lake, making it as comfortable for himself as possible, while Luxa took her blanket to the back end, close to Ares and Aurora.

Gregor helped Dalia pack away the plates before he wished her a good night, and took his own blanket to Luxa. There was something he had remembered he wanted to ask her.

"Gregor, aren't you tired?", she asked, but her face was friendly.

He shot her a smile while sitting down next to her. "I am. And tomorrow we'll be fighting, right?"

"Most likely", she nodded.

Gregor watched the Death Rider, he had at last rolled up the map and lied down himself, leaning his head against Thanatos' back.

"Do you... know what happened to him?", Gregor asked Luxa, still staring at the outcast.

"You mean that look in his eye?", he nodded and Luxa shook her head – "I have no idea. I have not asked him. Maybe Howard knows, or... Stellovet."

Gregor pondered. "They sure have seen more of him than we, these last months. He... he changed so much, didn't he? Or is that just me?"

Luxa chuckled. "No, he did. Something must have happened to him, something... bad, worse than bad. You can see those things, you know? Like I see in your face that you have braved the ordeals of three prophecies already. You talk about how he changed, but you changed yourself, from when I first met you. And quite a lot."

He smiled a little, "I mean, I think we all did. You too. For the better – I mean, not that you were BAD before, it's just now, you are... eh..." Gregor noticed his face flushed as he started stammering. Dear God, why was he always acting so awkward, lately, whenever Luxa was around?

She only laughed at him. "Thank you. I am quite pleased with how I have changed as well."

"Yeah", Gregor chuckled, "I mean, I still remember how you were with Henry. Making fun of the cockroaches and that thing with Boots..." He remembered all-too-well the two had almost acted like bullies, and how Henry had thrown Boots over the edge of the cliff, even if he had known the bats would catch her.

Luxa didn't say anything, and Gregor suddenly realized he might have overstepped. She probably didn't like being reminded of Henry at all, and here he was, trying to laugh about how she had been with him.

But Luxa was quiet for an entirely different reason. "I realize that we must have appeared like bad people to you now, and I am not trying to defend everything we did, but... please do not judge us... Henry... only by what you have seen."

She visibly gritted her teeth, "It is hard for me as well, remembering him for more than what he... did, in the end, but then again, there are so many good things to remember as well." She looked up at him, smiling sadly, "I try, you know? To remember the good things. Because who else will, beside me... and maybe Vikus?"

Gregor lowered his head. He suddenly thought about how little he had actually known Henry at all. Not even during the quest they had talked much, and shamefully, Gregor realized, Luxa was right – even he, when he thought of Henry, seemed to remember only the bad things. Him attacking Ripred when they first met, despite the orders, later trying to kill him in his sleep and then his betrayal.

Gregor tried, he desperately attempted to prove Luxa wrong, so he tried his best to remember something – anything – good about her cousin. His thoughts went back to when he had talked to Mareth about the two, about when he had found out the rats had killed Henry's parents like they had Luxa's.

_You must not take what they say to heart,_ he heard the soldier's troubled voice say, _when their parents were killed, Nerissa became as frail as glass, Henry as hard as stone._

He remembered instantly disliking them both less, after having found out what had caused them to become so mean.

But if they killed his parents, why did he side with them then? Gregor thought and shook his head slightly. This was not a memory to share.

An image flashed in his head, Henry with a torch on his head, imitating the helmet Gregor had worn on that trip, and Luxa pranking him his hair was on fire. The memory made him smile, and suddenly he understood what Luxa had meant – Gregor realized he had never given much thought to how close they must have been at some point.

Then, his mind reeled further back. The High Hall, his first dinner – his first encounter with Henry. _Beware the fish, for Luxa plans to poison you directly!_ He remembered the friendly look he had shot him, how he'd grabbed his arm, his dramatically hushed voice, and the joke – it had been Henry, out of all people, who had actually taught him Underlanders had a sense of humor.

When Gregor told Luxa about that incident, she laughed. "I remember all too well, if I would have had the means, I would have actually poisoned you, you know?"

They exchanged smiles, and after a short while, she averted her gaze. "Thank you. For... for not judging me when I say I want to remember the good things, and even trying to remember them with me."

Gregor smiled back. Maybe Luxa was right, and things weren't as black and white as he had always thought. He opened his mouth to respond when a voice suddenly interrupted them from behind. "I am very tempted to quote Hamnet's "telling old tales out of school", right now, you two..."

Gregor and Luxa both spun around, only to see the Death Rider waiting behind them, hands on his hips. At first glance, he looked casual and confident as ever, but then Gregor saw he was biting his lip and his smile looked almost... forced. How much exactly had he heard? And why... did an old story about Henry even phase him? Had they... known each other, perhaps?

He glanced at the Death Rider once and realized they must have been around the same age. And he could also see them getting along, both had had that same cocky attitude, and both sure liked to show off.

"We... we were about to go to sleep, really", Luxa tried to argue, and all he did was raise an eyebrow – "Then do that. Good night, you two. And, you know, actually LISTEN to me this time, you know you owe me, Gregor!"

Gregor's face flushed a little when he realized the outcast had a point. "Let's go to sleep...", he mumbled, trying not to look at Luxa's confused face. When had the Death Rider even gotten up? Gregor thought he had seen him already having lied down.

"Good night, Gregor", Luxa whispered, one last time, and he replied "You too", in the dim light from the lake he could just about make out she was smiling.

The next morning it was Howard, who shook him awake. "Breakfast is almost ready, then we leave." He shot him and Luxa a last, highly disapproving, glance, concerning how close to each other they had lied out their blankets, and then left to help Dalia and the Death Rider.

Everyone ended up looking at the outcast during breakfast, expecting him to fire up some sort of plan, but he barely seemed to notice. This time, Gregor saw that Dalia and Howard had done most of the cooking, all the outcast did was sit on the side, poking at his fish, like he was deep in thought. Thanatos was always close by, he was pressing his head into his side, like in an attempt to comfort him – for whatever reason.

Gregor pondered what could possibly be wrong – did he know something they didn't? And if, why was he keeping it from them?

Eventually, Luxa was the one who broke the almost awkward silence – "Do we have some sort of plan, or are we just going to improvise?"

His head jerked up and for a second, Gregor thought he spotted a purple circle under his eye, but he wore a hood now and his face was barely visible in the shade it threw, so he wasn't sure.

"Eh, Thanatos and I gave it some thought yesterday", he started and fetched a notebook, where he had sketched the layout of the arena.

"As we have no idea where Longclaw will be, we will have to improvise for the most part. The only thing I do know is where they hold the prisoners", he pointed at an "x" on his drawing, a little south of the arena. "They will most likely be holding Stellovet there. I suggest we prioritize saving her and then go after Longclaw."

"So we take a detour to the prison first?", Luxa asked, and he nodded. "With some luck, they won't even notice us."

After they had finished their meal, everyone quickly packed their things and prepared to leave. Gregor didn't dare ask Howard if he could fly with Luxa again, after he had already seen them sleeping so close together, and thought Dalia was good company as well.

They mounted up on Ares together and Gregor's bond lifted off directly behind Thanatos this time, Aurora followed close by, with Howard and Luxa.

Thinking it might be rude to stay silent, he asked Dalia for her family and her life at the Fount. She seemed not in the mood for stories, like something was bothering her, though. Almost like the Death Rider, he thought.

All she said was, that her parents were dead and her little brother lived in Regalia, with other relatives. At the question about her own life she just shrugged and said it was alright.

Gregor had a feeling she wanted to be left alone, so he let her. She sat behind him and yet he still envisioned her clearly, her frail build, her intricately braided hair, and her big, deep, almost blueish-purple eyes. Was she looking forward to seeing Stellovet again? If so, she didn't let it show at all. Gregor knew that he himself wasn't necessarily, at least if she would behave the same way she had last time.

Then again, hadn't he told himself to try and stop seeing the world in black and white, yesterday, during the conversation with Luxa? What did he know of Stellovet even? He knew her even less than Henry, and yet he had already written her off as bad. Maybe, Gregor thought to himself, maybe she had a reason too.

The Death Rider lead them through a series of tunnels around the cave with the arena, and when they finally flew out into open space, he signaled them to land immediately. All three bats landed close to the wall and Gregor wanted to switch on his flashlight, but when he tried to pull it out, he remembered he had given it to Dalia earlier. She had wanted to take a look at it, and not given it back yet.

When he took the small one from Mrs. Cormaci instead, the Death Rider prevented him from turning it on. "They will spot us if we make light. Trust me, the prisoners are here. Remain in place and make no sound."

Gregor nodded, in the same breath he asked himself how they were supposed to free Stellovet in complete darkness.

A few moments passed and Gregor's eyes got used to the dark to the extent where he could make out shapes. The outcast signaled them to follow him and pointed to the left, where the shape of a tunnel entrance was located.

The group pressed on, Gregor saw Luxa had her hand on her sword, and he eyed the handle of his own, he might need it soon, if they got spotted.

Then, Gregor noticed Howard had taken the lead as the Death Rider had fallen behind a little. He focused his eyes and realized, the outcast was glancing backward.

Gregor had been walking directly behind Howard but now he looked back as well. He could just about see Luxa next to him, and there were the bats, circling above their heads.

It wasn't them, who the Death Rider was looking at though – it was Dalia. She had remained behind, Gregor noticed, she hadn't even taken a single step with them.

The outcast was so close to him now that Gregor could partially make out his expression, and what he saw scared him. It was with a mix of shock, anger and... something else, something Gregor couldn't read, that he stared at Dalia now. Gregor saw she was gripping something elongated firmly.

"Don't", he heard the outcast whisper, it was barely audible, but in the dark, quiet cave, his voice sounded loud and clear in Gregor's ears. "You don't –"

He never ended up finishing his sentence, when Dalia raised the elongated item, that turned out to be the flashlight she had taken from Gregor, pointed it upward – and switched it on.

No – Gregor wanted to scream, the Death Rider specifically told us not to switch on the... Then it clicked.

Rats were now streaming into the cave from all entrances, apparently, the light had been a signal. The rest of the party froze in their tracks, most looked confused, not the outcast though. His expression told, he knew exactly what had just happened – what Dalia had done.

A huge rat now stepped closer from behind Dalia, he was most likely around seven feet tall, had thick, brown fur and a huge scar across his chest. He placed a paw on Dalia's shoulder who averted her eyes and looked to the floor. "Bravo, well done – they are all here, the queen, the warrior – and my good friend the Death Rider too! Isn't it good to see you again", he showed a toothy, mocking grin.

The bats had realized what was going on as well, they had attempted to attack from above but were quickly restrained by some of the rats, and shackled. Thanatos threw the brown rat a death glare, and Gregor wondered if that was Longclaw.

The Death Rider had not moved yet. All he did was stare at Dalia, with that very same expression. When two rats grabbed his arms to secure him, he did not even protest.

Gregor saw they had gotten all party members now, he himself was lifted off the floor by a big grey rat too, before he could even think about grabbing his sword. He still tried to twist his head in Dalia's direction, she had given the signal to the rats, and they had not restrained her. She had... given them away on purpose.

A wave of despair and panic overwhelmed Gregor – this was impossible. The gentle, frail Dalia, who had always been so understanding, so caring, so modest – she was supposed to be... a traitor...?

He caught a last glimpse at her face, she was so pale her skin looked almost translucent. Next to the huge brown rat, who Gregor assumed was Longclaw, she looked even more delicate and small than ever, hands firmly gripping the handle of the flashlight, almost like it was a lifeline.

The last thing he heard, before being carried off by the grey rat, was the Death Rider's voice, he yelled – "This is not going to go the way you think, you know?", and Gregor asked himself if he was talking to Longclaw – or to Dalia.


	23. Trapped

Henry had immediately noticed there was one set of footsteps less than there should be when he had given the signal to move. He turned around, at first to check if something was wrong... but then he saw Dalia standing there, not having moved a muscle... and was suddenly engulfed in a wave of panic when he realized he recognized the situation.

Images flashed in his mind, how tense she had seemed all day, her lack of appetite, her serious, almost pained, expression – that's when he realized he knew it all.

He saw her standing at the back, with the lightstick, and immediately guessed her plan. He saw her, he knew what she was about to do, and everything in him screamed he had to prevent it. Do everything he could to save her from... making the same mistake he had. The one mistake he would have given everything he had to erase from history.

"Don't", he whispered, staring at her, trying to convey his message through his look. She glanced at him for a moment, but he saw in her eyes that her mind was made up. "You don't –"

Henry didn't even know exactly what he had wanted to say. "You don't have to do this", "you don't know what you're doing", "you don't realize what you are getting yourself into". All of them at once, maybe, and yet he did not have the time to finish a single of them.

She turned on the light – as she had planned. The rats streamed in, Longclaw was among them, but Henry did not even listen to what he was saying. He kept staring at Dalia, unable to comprehend she had just... done this.

Two rats grabbed him at last, he did not have the strength to fight back. At this very moment, Henry felt more helpless than he had in a long time. A hundred questions were reeling in his mind – most prominently there was the big "why". Everyone had a "why", he had had one himself. He wanted to know Dalia's. He wanted to... understand... but he couldn't.

He felt he was being carried away now, together with the others... this was his last chance to say something, to express all those screaming thoughts in his head.

"This is not going to go the way you think, you know?", he was staring at Dalia, then his eyes darted over to Longclaw. He wouldn't have been able to tell at which one of the two the words had been directed.

They disappeared out of sight soon, and dazed as he was, he realized he was dragged through the exact tunnel that led to the prisons, that he had wanted to lead the party into. He was not alone either, they were all there – Luxa, Gregor, Howard and the bats. Dalia had remained, of course.

Go, go, go, go. Stand with your friends – Ripred's voice rang in Henry's ears, as loud and clear as if he was speaking at this very moment. Stand with your friends. They hadn't been his friends. Never. And he knew they weren't Dalia's either. If only she knew... if only... she knew... what he knew... If only...

Henry's thoughts were interrupted by the rats that were carrying him, they had put him back on his own feet and Henry realized he could see normally. A single fuel bowl stood in the corner of the prison and illuminated the room fairly well.

"In you go", one of the rats snarled and pushed him into the pit in the middle of the room. The rest of his party members followed, and Henry let out a pained cry when he landed harshly on his shoulder.

Back when he had rescued the crawlers from here, he had used a rope, but now, he had fallen the approximately eight or nine feet, and it had not been pleasant. Now he could make out screams and groans from the others too, his mind wandered to Thanatos and his eyes started scanning the bottom of the pit for him, as he slowly rose to his feet... instead, they found someone else.

Her dress was torn, her hair unwashed and disheveled, and her face and hands, as well as her naked feet, smeared in dirt – but she was alive and well, staring at them all in disbelief – "It is you!", Stellovet's voice was overflowing with joy. She sprinted directly at them. Henry saw her leaping at him first, then she presumably remembered it would look weird if she greeted the outcast before her own brother, so she extended a hand to help Howard up.

He instantly locked her in a tight embrace, as soon as he let go, she approached Henry, awkwardly trying to straighten out her hair and scratch off some of the dirt on her hands and face. "You... came for me!"

He threw her a smile. "Kinda had to. The guy who kidnapped you was... an old friend."

"You fwiends?" The entire party shrieked when they suddenly heard a tiny voice from a corner of the pit. Only Stellovet turned away from Henry and towards the corner. "They are, you can come out!"

"What is –", Howard started, but froze when suddenly something moved in the corner. Stellovet ran back there and apparently supported whoever it was. When she emerged in the light again, leaning on her shoulder was the crème-colored figure of a bat. She had white stripes, that were almost invisible against her light fur, expressive, green eyes – and around her left foot was an iron shackle, tying her down to the floor.

"Who is –" Luxa took a step forward, examining the strange flier. Henry saw now that her lower body was torn by a gash and she bled quite heavily.

"May I introduce", Stellovet smiled, "this is Hera. She is a prisoner like we are. We kept each other company, over the last days." She paused for a second, looking back – "Come out, you three, they don't bite – well, most of them...", she giggled, "and these are...", from behind Hera suddenly emerged a tiny white head, from under her belly came another, light-brown one, and from in between Stellovet's legs emerged a third, dark-brown head.

"They fwiends?", the tiny white bat that sat on, who Henry assumed was her mother, asked again, and Stellovet giggled. "These are Leda", she pointed at the white pup, "Danae", the light-brown one, "and this right here is Io", she picked up the dark-brown one and caressed her head lightly. "They are Hera's pups, and they were captured with her."

Henry shot a look at Stellovet, the way she stood there, among the family of bats. The babies now clustered around her, while the mother lied at her feet, clearly exhausted. Her torn dress, the dirt on her face, and the disheveled hair – he would have almost not recognized her.

The group soon assembled around the flier family and Hera told them she had been on her way from the flier's land to the Fount, together with her partner and her newborn pups.

They had had official permission to stay, as her partner Chronos had been supposed to start working there as a courier. But on their way, they had encountered a storm over the waterway, that had driven them off-course, and she had been separated from Chronos. She had barely been able to save herself and her pups into a tunnel, but halfway through that tunnel, they had encountered rats, who had brought them here, only a day before Stellovet had arrived.

"As I am sure my sister has told you", Howard addressed them, after she had finished her story, "we are the children of the family that administrates the Fount. And should we manage to escape from here, you four are very welcome to come with us and live there – even if your partner should be lost."

Hera nodded at him gratefully. "Your offer is very kind. We will gladly accept." Her eyes were heavy with sorrow from the memory of her partner, who Henry assumed was dead – if not a miracle had happened.

Maybe ten minutes later they had all introduced themselves, and it had fallen to Howard to tell Hera and Stellovet their own story. Gregor and Luxa had looked after their own bats, whom the rats had tied up with heavy chains to prevent them from flying away, and Henry had checked for Thanatos.

"I... am okay, I swear", his bond had assured him while gritting his teeth in pain. The chains were so tight they were almost cutting into his skin and forcing his wings into a very uncomfortable position. As much as Henry had tried, together with the others, to loosen the shackles, they had been unsuccessful.

All three of them were occupied with trying to support their bonds as well as they could. Luxa had her arms wrapped around Aurora, stroking her fur soothingly, Gregor was sitting side by side with Ares, gripping his claw firmly, and Henry was lying, face pressed into Thanatos' fur, with an arm around his neck.

Howard was sitting with Stellovet, an arm around her shoulders, quietly talking to her. Hera and her pups were lying close by as well.

Now that all stories had been exchanged and silence had returned to the prison, Henry felt the lump return to his throat, he saw the look on Dalia's face again and his own inability to prevent it all.

It all made sense now, they had realized. How the rats had known where Stellovet would be... how they had found out about Luxa staying at the Fount... It all made sense... such terrible sense now. The only thing that was still unanswered was the big "why".

Henry felt tears rise in his eye, he pressed his face firmly into Thanatos' fur, to make sure nobody saw him cry. How would he explain the tears to them, after all?

Thanatos asked what was wrong, after a while, and Henry told him, as quietly as he could. "I couldn't do anything, you know?", he tried not to sob, "I could only stand there and watch her do the same thing I had done. I... I could not do anything...!"

The tears eventually started falling and Thanatos couldn't do much, except for staying close and letting him cry into his fur, but it was okay. Henry was immensely glad everyone was so occupied with each other they did not notice. He had no desire to try and come up with an explanation for why he was crying, like when he had listened to that conversation between Luxa and Gregor yesterday.

It was like his enhanced hearing was a blessing and a curse at the same time – he was incredibly grateful for the possibilities of perception it provided, but then again, it had also enabled him to hear the two kids talking last night when he had already been lying down, trying to sleep.

_It is hard for me as well, remembering him for more than what he... did, in the end, but then again, there are so many good things to remember as well._ Henry still heard Luxa's voice, loud and clear, almost trembling with uncertainty and pain.

_I try, you know? To remember the good things. Because who else will, beside me... and maybe Vikus?_ Nobody, Henry thought, and the thought burned like a seal of hot iron someone was pressing into his heart – traitor.

He had spent hours quietly talking to Thanatos, after listening to that conversation, and yet he had still cried himself to sleep that night. Everything they had said had been so painfully bittersweet it had been almost unbearable.

That was why he had attempted to forbid himself any thought about his past, why he had assumed – almost wanted – to never go on a quest again, with these people. Because as much as he thought they accepted him – they only really accepted the Death Rider. Not Henry.

And Henry – they would never accept again.

Nearly two hours passed before everyone had collected themselves enough so that they could hold a small crisis meeting in the middle of the pit, to discuss their possibilities.

Henry had his hood pulled over his head to cover as much of his face as he could, but the rest of the questers didn't look any better themselves. Everyone was still dazed and in denial about what had happened.

Stellovet sat next to her brother, knees pulled to her chest, her expression grave, Henry assumed from the revelation her own governess had turned out a traitor.

When the exiled prince realized they were all looking at him for options, he sighed. "I... I don't know, really. This is not a situation I was prepared for, as bad as that sounds. I..."

Howard interrupted him. "I don't think anyone was prepared for that, honestly." He was clearly referring to Dalia's betrayal, and the silence, that followed his words, undermined their truth.

"But we have to do something!", Luxa exclaimed, "We can't just sit here and twiddle our thumbs!"

"I'm afraid that's exactly what we'll have to do. Until... something happens." Henry sighed, "Maybe they will fetch some of us to fight in the arena. In that case, we should be prepared to attempt a breakout. But right now? What do you want to do? FLY up there?"

Everyone was silent for they all knew he was right. It didn't make it any better though.

It took an entire day for the rats to fetch them out of the prison pit. They came while the group had just agreed to go to sleep for the second time, all exhausted and weakened from the imprisonment. They had had enough food and water left to last them another day maybe, but after that things were looking dire.

When the rats finally came, they only fetched the humans, including Stellovet. The bats they left as they were, Luxa's face was pure hatred for letting them suffer from the chains this whole time, Gregor was almost crying and Henry wore a stone-cold face, like a mask.

They were lifted from the pit and the exiled prince exchanged glances with Luxa, Howard, and then Stellovet and Gregor. He hoped they remembered the plan they had made for this scenario. Luxa nodded at him, so did Gregor and Stellovet. Howard hesitated, but then did the same thing.

Henry assumed they would be taken to the arena, and as soon as he had gotten his hands on a weapon, he thought he would be able to take out the guards. He needed to get to Longclaw, who he assumed would be there to watch, and maybe with a sword to the throat of their leader, the rats would finally let their fliers go.

As Henry anticipated, they were taken straight to the arena. He counted seven rats in close proximity, the humans were five – it should be enough, even if none of them except Henry had fought a rat on foot before.

The only fault in his plan, Henry realized when a different, light-brown, rat approached, informing them they would all fight for their entertainment soon, was that Longclaw was nowhere to be seen. The brown rat whose name was Hardskull, soon revealed where they had hidden their weapons – presumably to show off and express the rats' confidence in their grasp on the prisoners –which had been his mistake.

So suddenly, that not the rats, not his fellow questers, saw it coming, Henry, not restrained by anyone anymore, leaped in the air and onto the back of one of the rats. That was a trick he had learned from Kismet, it usually did a fine job at disorienting the rat in question, and it worked this time as well.

The one he had caught, a dark-grey rat with a torn ear, screeched and tried to shake him, but Henry didn't let her. He grabbed hold of her ears and dragged her head into the direction of their weapons. Blindly, she stumbled in that direction, and Henry grabbed hold of his sword. The next moment, her throat was slit, and she fell.

The exiled prince jumped away from her, positioning himself with his back against the wall and checking on his fellow questers. They had all started dodging the attacks of the rats, that had fallen into a small panic, not knowing how this could be happening. Henry now grabbed random swords from the stash and tossed them in their direction.

Somehow, everyone held a sword when the pile was empty, and Henry took up Charos for himself. He used the rock, their weapons had been lying on, to propel himself up, and did the "land on the back"-trick a couple more times, killing two more rats that way, before he reached the others.

They formed a circle, defending themselves from all sides. Henry realized that their plan had worked, thanks to them having the moment of surprise on their side, the rats were disorganized and unprepared.

Henry slew one after the other, Charos whizzed through the air, slitting throat after throat. He was entirely immersed in the battle, like back in the arena, but not so much that he didn't keep an eye out for Longclaw. He must come soon, Henry thought, with this commotion and all.

When he finally thought he saw the brown fur of the rat that had started it all, he raised Charos above his head and charged at the silhouette, every inch in his body out to kill.

Then, his ears suddenly rang with the sound of metal against metal. Henry was so surprised he slipped out of focus for a second – that wasn't a sound he had expected to hear here. Like in a trance, he realized the rat wasn't Longclaw. The brown fur was merely a decoy, and when she had turned around, she had blocked his attack – with a dagger.

She held it still raised now and the blade shimmered golden in the light of the fuel bowls, the rats used to light the arena.

It was like someone had dunked his head into cold water. Henry stood still, frozen in place, staring at the dagger... and the rat, that lost the brown coat now, stepping into the light.

Her fur shimmered silvern against the gold of the blade and her eyes... Henry stared at her in disbelief. This was impossible... utterly impossible. Only once he had seen those eyes before, and he had assumed – hoped – he would have to never see them again, after...

"Well, well... look who we have here", her voice was soothing and calm, and her face was relaxed. She lowered the blade.

It was like hearing her voice had flipped a switch within Henry. He instantly raised Charos again, ready to pierce her lying throat for good, when –

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you", a different familiar voice sounded from behind her, and Henry saw brown fur – and black.

"Any of you!" Longclaw shouted, in his grasp the twisting figure of Thanatos, Ares and Aurora were held by two of his guards – claws at their throats. Hera was nowhere to be seen. "The next one who raises a blade – loses a bat. Got it?"

Henry wanted nothing more than to wipe that toothy grin from his face, but one look at Thanatos' face was enough and Charos slipped from his grasp at last. From his perception of the room, he noticed everyone else had dropped their weapons as well now.

But his gaze wasn't fixated on Longclaw – no, the other rat held his attention. The one with the golden dagger. Henry knew it. There was only one dagger that had a blade of this color.

"That is mine", he stepped forward, where he had gotten the strength, he didn't know. His voice was so quiet nobody heard him – except for her.

She smiled. "Oh, yes, it is... that is why I demanded on keeping it, after all, when Longclaw brought it back from his trip to the resting place of our dear late king Gorger. It reminded me of..."

She took a step forward, eyeing him thoroughly for the first time. Her eyes – those big, expressive, blue eyes – stared at him like he was still the naive, sixteen-year-old child he had been when they had first met.

"My, my... you... hadn't I smelled it was you, I wouldn't have even recognized you... Silverchild", she chuckled, "how much a year and a half can change someone, aren't I right?"

Henry gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that. You just said it yourself... I have changed."

She chuckled. "That may be true – I am deeply sorry for that eye, by the way, it looks like that was rather painful – but you are still you. Or are you not?"

Henry scoffed. "I will not listen to your lies for a second longer, you hear? Wouldn't you hold my flier, you would be as dead as the king you have so easily abandoned for...", he threw a dismissive glance at Longclaw, "what, your next plaything? Because let's be real, that's what they all are to you, aren't they?"

Longclaw tightened his grip on Thanatos. "What is he talking about – and how do you even know him, Tonguetwist?"

She giggled and shrugged. "Oh, that is a long story. Silverchild and I are old friends. Very... old friends."

Never before in his life had Henry wished for the power to kill through looks more than now. His gaze burned holes through the sleek silver fur of the rat that had ruined his life but he could not risk Thanatos by attacking her. He noticed he was clenching his fist so hard his nails were digging into his skin to the point where it would start bleeding soon.

Tonguetwist did not care. She minced around him and his party members, standing, mouth agape, not daring to move, and mustered them. "I must say, Silverchild, you have improved your abilities from when we last met. That's why I can not risk you performing another stunt like this again, I hope you understand."

She gazed at Longclaw, twirling Henry's former dagger, the exact dagger he had lost during his fall from the cliff, that he and Thanatos had searched for almost twenty minutes – how Longclaw had found it, Henry didn't know, all he knew was that he wanted her dirty paws off Hamnet's gift.

"We will keep your fliers with us from now on", Longclaw grinned. "And should you try to escape again – well... I am sure you can imagine what will happen in that case." He dragged a claw across his throat and chuckled.

None of them resisted as the rats dragged them back to the pit. All Henry could do was throw Thanatos a last, desperate glance, before he disappeared out of sight together with Longclaw and... Tonguetwist.

"I am curious to see how you will attempt to get yourself out of this one, Silverchild!", she called after him and he heard her laugh.

_Silverchild_, the name rang in his ears, _Silverchild_ – Henry shook his head. This was not the time for –

He was shoved back into the pit before he could finish the thought. He cried in pain when he landed hard on his left side, and only registered the others, who followed him, vaguely.

_Silver... child_. Henry gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the tears. He couldn't break down now, the others... they needed him, they...

The look in Tonguetwist's blue eyes, condescending yet compassionate, calculating yet sympathetic. She... she had always been so full of contradictions... always...

Gregor felt a great numbness take him over. His eyes instinctively searched for Ares... his hand for his claw, but he wasn't there. He still saw the cold eyes of the rat that had held him and had to suppress tears.

He glanced around the cave, everyone was visibly dazed from what had happened. Luxa was lying on the floor, exactly where she had landed, curled up in a ball. Howard and Stellovet were huddled together, Luxa's cousin had somehow mustered up the strength to tell Hera what had happened. And the Death Rider... Gregor could almost not see him, where he sat in the darkness of a corner, curled into a ball, not looking at any of them.

What had the rat with the silver fur called him... Gregor pondered – Silverchild. He had never heard the name before, yet they obviously knew each other. Gregor wanted to ask how, but he lacked the strength.

He suddenly saw him fighting, back in the arena. Gregor thought he had never seen any human fight like that, it had almost seemed like he had been able to... predict his opponents' next moves. Questions as to how he had done that burned on his mind, but he dared not approach him. The outcast had, throughout Gregor's entire time knowing him, always remained someone he had had a lot of respect for. The kind of respect that makes you not want to mess with someone... ever.

Several hours passed before any of them moved. It was Howard, at last, who called them all to the middle of the pit again. Luxa and Gregor managed to get up and Howard supported Stellovet. She... she looked so different from how she had when Gregor had last seen her. Her hair was disheveled and her dress torn and dirty. She almost looked like a completely different person from the one Gregor remembered, with the intricate hairstyle and beautifully ornated dress, who had dropped the nasty comment about Henry to Luxa.

Maybe, he thought, maybe she was not so bad after all. Maybe, she was just a child, dragged into this mess against her will like... we all.

They were all eventually sitting in the middle, all except the Death Rider. He had not moved a muscle since they had been brought back here, even when Howard called out to him again.

No reaction.

Gregor nervously shifted, Luxa and he exchanged glances. What was the matter with him? Did it have anything to do with what that silver rat had said?

Finally, it was Luxa, who stood up. She carefully took a few steps towards him, unsure of how to begin a conversation. "Who was she?", she finally asked, standing directly before the outcast.

He didn't move at first, and Luxa had already opened her mouth to say something else when he finally looked up. Gregor had never seen an expression like the one in his eye before – the only word he had to describe it was... broken.

"She... she was the reason I became an outcast."

The shocked silence, that followed his words, seemed to last forever. Gregor's head was reeling.

"You... she was... what?" Luxa was stammering now, expressing their combined confusion in words.

Everyone soon clustered around the outcast, instead of assembling in the middle of the room. He sighed, seemingly pulling his arms tighter around himself. "There was... I made a mistake. And she was the one who dragged me into it. In the end, I had no choice but to... stay away. Stay in the Dead Land."

It was not much information, no details or concrete events, but Gregor felt like he was telling them more than he was comfortable with anyway. The rest of them didn't ask further either, even though he saw the curiosity in all their eyes.

"She is as dangerous as Longclaw, if not worse", the outcast finally spoke up again, his eye now shone with fierce determination. "She is cunning and manipulative and she must never be trusted, you hear?"

Quieter, he added – "I am almost certain it was her who turned Dalia against us. It is in her nature."

Luxa, Howard, and Stellovet exchanged glances. Howard's sister suddenly averted her eyes. "How do you know that?", she asked, not looking at any of them, "How do you know it was this rat... and not us... me... who drover her to turn against us?"

Everyone stared at Stellovet in shock and Gregor saw tears glistening in her eyes. "You told me, Howard... you told me to be kinder, to show respect, yet I did nothing but mistreat her, purposely even. It was fun... I thought it was fun. But what if... what if this... this is all my fault?"

She finally broke down crying, wrapping her own arms around herself. Howard scooted over to her, embracing her tightly. "You could have not foreseen this, Stello, I..."

Then, suddenly, Luxa turned around to her. "Blaming yourself will not help us now. It does not matter who is to blame. All that matters is, that we are all here now... in this hole... together. That Longclaw has our fliers, and that we will not leave you behind, should rescue come."

Stellovet looked up at her, eyes red from crying. "You... why are you saying that? You... you hate me, do you not?"

Luxa hesitated for a moment. "I do not... hate you. In fact, I always thought you hated me. I am here now, am I not? Here, on this quest... to... to save you." Her eyes were a little darker than usual, she looked like she was desperately trying to not think about whatever Stellovet had done to her in the past.

The two girls sat across each other, visibly exhausted, tormented and played for fools by life, but they were... talking. Like normal humans.

Gregor looked around and saw the surprise in Howard's eyes... curiously enough even the Death Rider had widened his eye in disbelief.

"I... I do not... hate you", Stellovet mumbled, avoiding Luxa's gaze, "I simply..."

Suddenly, the outcast's head jolted up. It reminded Gregor a little of what the bats did when rats were close by. But he looked not angry or aggressive... instead, he grinned widely.

Swoosh – something swiped down all of a sudden and the party jolted around. Before them landed at first one, and soon a second and a third... bat. Gregor stared at them in disbelief when Luxa darted past him, crying out in joy. He saw her wrap her arms around the neck of... Aurora.

"Death?!" The outcast's voice was clouded in pain, but he too managed to get to his feet and stagger towards Thanatos.

Ares already pressed his nose into Gregor's side when it finally clicked... their bats were back. He wrapped his arms around Ares' neck, hiding his face in his fur. "H... how...?" Gregor felt tears rise in his eyes. They had been with the rats... with Longclaw. Gregor felt Ares' fur tickle his face... he was here. But... how was that possible?

"It is quite simple, how, believe it or not", Thanatos' voice sounded suddenly, and everyone turned his way. "It was Dalia."

The story, Thanatos told, was received in grave silence. The Death Rider had had his arms wrapped around his bat at all times, Aurora had Luxa cradled up between her wings as well. Ares' head was lying in Gregor's lap. All of them were happy the bats were back but...

"It has to be a trap", Luxa raised her voice first. "It must be that rat, Tonguetwist, she is cunning, you said?", she eyed the Death Rider. "It must be her plan to lure us into a trap."

"By freeing our only means to get out of here?", surprisingly enough it was the outcast who answered, stroking Thanatos' fur. "Even if it is a trap, I can not see how it would not work out in our favor. Death, you said she killed the guards?"

"One guard", the black bat with the white face said, "It was one, and he was really drunk. She slit his throat and told us to fly."

Everyone remained silent. "But why would she...", Howard spoke, but his sister interrupted him. Maybe Dalia's betrayal hadn't settled in with her entirely yet, as she hadn't been there. "She could also have had second thoughts."

Luxa averted her eyes. "Traitors are traitors", she mumbled, and Gregor noticed the Death Rider clench his jaw. "It doesn't matter", he spoke, his voice determined. "We have our fliers back – we need to get out of here." He paused for a second. "That is... you all need to get out of here."

He exchanged a glance with Thanatos. "Take Stellovet, Hera and her pups back to the Fount. Death and I... we deal with Longclaw... and Tonguetwist."


	24. Retribution

"That is unacceptable!", Gregor watched Luxa standing before the Death Rider, hands to her hips. "I am not LEAVING now! Not before –"

Surprisingly enough, Aurora approached her from behind. "This mission was to save Stellovet, was it not?"

Luxa turned to her bond, mouth agape in protest, but the outcast raised his voice now. "Yes. Luxa, you were complaining earlier about how I dragged you and your family into my feud. Well, now, you have to take your family – and Hera with her pups – home. You have to fly with them and protect them. You have what you came for", he glanced at Stellovet who stood beside her brother, "let me and Death finish our own objective."

Luxa wanted to protest, her whole posture was defensive and determined, but she had run out of arguments.

"You need to go... now, before they notice the fliers are gone and send reinforcements", the outcast urged, putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her towards Aurora.

Luxa unwillingly approached her bat but glanced back. "You want to take them all on your own?", she asked hesitantly, and Gregor suddenly realized that it wasn't just pride and stubbornness, that made her want to stay – she was worried about the Death Rider.

But he simply grinned. "Death and I are more than able to take down a few rats, you don't have to worry about us."

"Last time we saw you, I heard you complain how you weren't able to fight anymore after you had lost your eye", she mumbled and Gregor listened up. She had a point.

But the outcast simply chuckled. "I did. But...", he exchanged knowing glances with Thanatos, "I solved that problem. For good."

Howard now frowned. "How do you... SOLVE something like that?"

The Death Rider grinned. "You know what?", he chuckled at Luxa, "I'll tell you the next time we meet. Kay?"

Luxa bit her lip and looked away. "If... you are indeed as strong as you say. If... there WILL be a next time..."

He smiled again, this time his expression was mischievous, yet a little solemn. "Oh, you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I have no plans to die... anytime soon." He turned away from them and fastened one of the pockets around Thanatos' lower body.

Gregor suddenly listened up. I have no plans to die... he had the weird feeling he had heard that phrase before... somewhere. But he couldn't begin to remember where.

"Alright... then", Luxa sighed and clenched her fist. "Your battle is yours. If Tonguetwist is indeed the reason... why you became an outcast, I can hardly deny you the right to kill her."

She climbed onto Aurora's back. When Howard wanted to mount up behind her, Ares asked if he wouldn't want to ride with Stellovet on his back, because he assumed he wanted to stay close to his sister and Hera had her own pups to carry. It had taken the outcast a couple hits with his black blade, Gregor could never remember its name, something with Char-, that Thanatos had brought with him, to destroy the shackle around Hera's foot, and she claimed she was fit to fly.

Howard hesitated, but then took Stellovet to ride with him on Ares, dismissively eyeing how Gregor mounted up behind Luxa on Aurora. Thanatos exchanged a few words with the bats in their tongue to make sure they knew the way, and then the three lifted off.

"Fly you high!", the Death Rider called and raised the black sword in the air to salute them.

"Fly you high, Death Rider!", Luxa called, "Fly you high!", Gregor shouted as well, Stellovet followed. Howard remained silent at first, but apparently, his sister had elbowed him, causing him to add his own, little enthusiastic "Fly you high."

Aurora, who had lifted off behind Hera and Ares, had just exited the tunnel that led to the prison cave when Gregor heard the first angry screams. The claw of a leaping rat missed Aurora only by inches before she gained altitude and left them behind, hissing and screaming of anger and frustration.

When they, at last, exited the area around the arena, leaving the echoing calls of the rats behind finally, Gregor allowed himself to relax for the first time. Ares led the way through a few tunnels, Gregor had no idea where they were going, but he had learned to trust the instincts and sense of orientation of the bats, over the course of his last few quests.

They flew for maybe half an hour, and throughout the entire time, he remained silent. There were a hundred things he would have wanted to talk about to Luxa, but he had no idea how to start a conversation, after what they had just gone through. Gregor almost felt like he was wasting an opportunity to talk to her, but he couldn't bring himself to speak up.

When the bats flew out of the opening of a tunnel into the cave with the familiar lake, Howard called for a break. Hera wasn't strong enough to fly for a long period of time, and Ares and Aurora weren't at their full strength either, after days in chains.

The bats fished and Howard lit a fire to grill the food. Gregor was halfway through his first fish when he suddenly realized something – "It was not a trap", he concluded, "Dalia did not free the bats to lure us into a trap. You were wrong!"

Something within Gregor was happy. He still saw the frail, gentle face of the young woman before him, and even though he had witnessed her betrayal himself, he found it hard to believe she was entirely evil. She must have had a reason, he thought.

Howard shrugged. "Even if so... she is a traitor, is she not?"

Ares and Aurora exchanged glances but didn't say anything, Hera was occupied talking to Stellovet, who sat next to her, feeding the babies pieces of fish. Gregor realized they must have had the opportunity to grow close before the rescue party had arrived.

Luxa remained silent as well and avoided his gaze. Gregor decided not to press for an answer, he knew the whole topic of betrayal was sensitive for her, ever since the incident with Henry, and he didn't want to upset her more than necessary.

"Do you think he will be okay?", she suddenly asked, and Gregor was confused for a moment. His thoughts had circled around Henry and for a second he thought she meant him, which would have been hard to answer since Henry was dead – but then he realized she must have meant the Death Rider.

He thought of the outcast, how he had slain the rats during their breakout attempt – and was suddenly entirely certain he would be fine.

Gregor's mind took him back to when he had asked Ripred that same question about Hamnet, in the Vineyard of Eyes, and his response – "Don't worry about him. He can look after himself", Gregor smiled at her, "he survived probably years out here without any help from the rest of you – us."

Luxa looked up, Gregor thought she remembered the words. "You are right. Maybe I worry too much."

"I think the Death Rider is the last person we should have to worry about", Howard spoke now. "After all", his voice sounded slightly mocking, "didn't he himself say he had "no plans to die"?"

Luxa looked down and Gregor suddenly asked himself if the line had sounded as familiar to her as it had to him.

In a quieter moment, when Howard and Stellovet were occupied, he approached her again. "I really don't think you have to worry about him."

Luxa nodded. "It's not like I even have a reason... at all."

Gregor suddenly recalled their conversation in the jungle, what she had revealed. He hesitated, but then asked – "Does... he still remind you of that dead person, like back in the jungle?"

She started kneading her hands. "He... a little. Though, it's not like that is of any importance. They just share a few traits, that is all. Though, if this trip has proved anything, then that they were as different as they were similar."

Gregor looked at her lowered head, the nervously folded hands – and suddenly asked himself if she meant Henry. Hadn't he himself compared them as well, when the Death Rider had interrupted their conversation about Luxa's cousin, in this very same cave?

He wanted to ask but hesitated to bring up Henry again. What did it really matter, honestly, if it was him or someone else?

"Well, anyway, we should get going soon. I think Howard is almost done with... whatever it was he was doing", Gregor glanced in his direction, trying to determine what it was, and saw Howard standing next to Stellovet, helping her place the pups on their mother's back.

"Maybe she is not so bad", Gregor suddenly remarked, looking at Stellovet, and to his surprise, Luxa nodded. "I do not know her very well, to be honest", she looked down at her hands again. "Neither do I really know any of them, except Howard."

"Well", Gregor tried giving her an encouraging smile, "maybe you can get to know them soon."

Luxa looked up at him and returned the smile. "Yes. Maybe."

Henry focused his senses on making out every detail, down in the arena, maybe a hundred feet below where Thanatos was cowering, in a niche in the wall of the huge cave. There were lit fuel bowls down there, but his echolocation was much more precise than his eyes.

He suddenly saw Luxa's worried face again, and it stung in his chest, bittersweetly. It was nice having her worry for him, then again – it wasn't really him who she was worried about.

Angrily, he shook his head. Now was not the time to deal with all of that. He had a mission – and a plan.

"You sure about this?", Thanatos asked one last time and Henry grinned, watching the rats below conducting a frantic search. Up here, they could not even smell them. "And you aren't? You know we can defeat him. It's... us, after all. We are the Death Rider", Henry confidently claimed.

Thanatos hummed in approval. "You have a point. But what about the rest? Dalia and... Tonguetwist?"

Thanatos had asked about the sliver rat, immediately after the others had left, if she was the same Tonguetwist that had won his trust and enticed him to betray his own people. Henry had simply nodded.

Thanatos' only reaction had been – "Well, in that case, she is all yours." Quieter he had added – "Seems like I am not the only one going up against the demons of my past today", and Henry had given him a crooked smile. "I wish you were." Thanatos had hit him and the exiled prince had sighed, "Maybe it is for the best if we slay our demons together today. Whatever Tonguetwist even wants with Longclaw... and the other way around. Like, how did those two even find each other?"

Thanatos had simply shrugged, "evil attracts evil, I guess", was his only theory, and Henry admitted it was not the most important thing in the world to find out, even if he was curious.

He was way more interested in Dalia's motive, and whether she had had some sort of plan of her own, or if it was a true change of heart. Thanatos had not been able to say, but Henry was sure the flier could see how much the topic genuinely upset his bond, so he had promised to try and find out, once they had dealt with Longclaw.

They would need to find something to do with Dalia anyway, leaving her here was out of the question for Henry. The rats would instantly kill her, he thought, no matter if Longclaw lived or died.

Now he was staring down at the huge brown rat, in the middle of the arena, yelling at his followers for still not having found them. Dalia or Tonguetwist were nowhere to be seen. "Ready?", he asked Thanatos, and instead of an answer, his bond spread his wings and lifted off.

All rats in the entire arena – Henry estimated it to be maybe a dozen, froze instantly, when the black flier touched down amidst them, seemingly unphased by their number and the fact that they had done nothing except to look for him, ever since he had vanished.

Henry knew he should be scared – any rational person with even the slightest self-preservation instinct would be – but he wasn't. Not now. All he felt was pure and utter desire to end it – here and now.

Longclaw stared at Henry as he confidently strutted towards him. His followers had long encircled them, so there was no turning back from this, even if the exiled prince would have wanted.

"I hear you were looking for me!", Henry called, spreading his arms. His two swords were tied to his back now, and Mys was back at his hip. Thanatos and he had stolen them back before they had made their plan, immediately after the group had left.

Longclaw showed a toothy grin. "I was. You know, I almost started to worry you had slipped through my fingers again... but no, that's not why you are here now, is it?"

Henry grinned back. "I am here...", he threw a short glance around, "to do exactly what you want me to, actually."

A confused murmur spread through the crowd of rats around them and Henry's grin widened. He spread his arms like he was talking to all of them – "You might not like it, but I know what you want! I know you all remember me – you were all there, in the audience, you all cheered for me, did you not?", he called out to them and more murmur arose. "Those of you who have not seen a single of my fights should raise their hand now!"

A quick glance around showed Henry not one of them had raised their hand. Some were even looking away, like in shame. He grinned widely.

"See? That's why I know you all really only want one thing from me – you want to see me fight!"

The murmur became excited now, and Longclaw hissed angrily. Turning back to Henry, he looked down at him, condescendingly – "And you... are here, because you wish to fight?"

That was the cue he had been waiting for. Henry stepped forward, tugging at his right glove. "Oh, I will fight. I – we", he threw Thanatos a short glance, "– will fight, and celebrate the final, fiftieth victory in this damned arena. The one you robbed me off – do you even have ANY idea how much that odd number frustrates me, like, who in the world calls themselves the champion of FORTY-NINE battles? How does that even sound?" Some of the rats giggled, only silenced by Longclaw's death glare.

Henry took another step forward. "We, the Death Rider, will fight for your entertainment one last time. But we will not just fight anyone", he continued, stripping off the glove at last. Taking another step closer, Henry raised his glove above his head, for everyone to see.

"Dear audience, today, we – the Death Rider – present to you, a one-of-a-kind special, a spectacle like none of you have ever seen. Witness what will surely be the greatest battle in the history of any establishment of this sort! The greatest champion you have ever had, victor of forty-nine battles, the Wielder of Fire, and the Man Who Fights At The Side Of Death – Yours Truly!", he took a short bow, "... against the one and only –"

Henry raised his hand with the glove even higher, before theatrically tossing it on the ground, directly before Longclaw's feet, "... gnawer who thinks he deserves to BE YOUR KING!"

After the gauntlet had landed at Lonclaw's feet, the room was grave-silent for a moment. Then, deafening cheering sounded, the rats around them were ecstatic. Henry's little speech had woken their appetite for a good battle, and one thing was for sure – this would be one.

Longclaw himself stared at Henry with narrow eyes for a moment, as if silently acknowledging the masterful strategy behind it. If he challenged him to a fight in the arena, their battle would be guaranteed certain conditions, nobody would dare interrupt and it would be once and for all to the death, it was Henry's attempt at preventing the gnawer from playing foul.

Slowly he bowed and picked up the gauntlet, grinning cunningly. "Very well... if that is what you want... so be it." With that, he tore the glove to shreds.

Longclaw attacked immediately and without hesitation. Henry had expected it, still, the rat was so fast he barely made it onto Thanatos' back. In the blink of an eye, he decided to fight this fight with his normal sword instead of Charos, as the long double-hander was hard to wield from the air.

He broke an ignifer-pellet over it and lit it on fire, while Thanatos was circling above Longclaw's head. They did not have to talk anymore to be in sync with each other – "Nice speech", the flier remarked quickly, and Henry just grinned, before he dove down, charging at their opponent.

The rest of the rats had indeed cleared the arena and taken their seats on the bleachers, Henry saw more had come than there had originally been. But had had no time to focus on that now.

Longclaw was fierce and a highly skilled warrior. Henry had to use his sword to deter him from leaping at them more than once, though he was never fast enough to land a hit.

For a while, they circled around him, but it quickly became obvious this was not the correct strategy for this battle. "He is too fast", Henry gritted his teeth. "Let me down and we'll attack separately, from both the ground and the air."

"Are you sure?", Thanatos sounded worried. Henry parried the next hit from the rat and managed to barely singe his fur with the burning blade.

"We have to put on a good show too, or we'll lose the audience, and when that happens, they will all start attacking and our plan goes down the drain."

Thanatos couldn't really argue with that. When Henry leaped from his back, he jumped straight at their opponent, flaming sword in both hands, shouting his most menacing battle cry.

Longclaw dodged at the very last second, and from then on the battle changed. The prince and the gnawer were circling each other on the bottom while Thanatos attacked over and over from above. It was clear that this was the way to go, as Longclaw had to split his attention between them, which made it harder for him.

Still, he was an incredibly skilled fighter, and both Henry and Thanatos were soon bleeding – the exiled prince from a gash across the side of his stomach, the flier from a wound he had received when the gnawer had dug his claw into his leg.

But likewise, Henry had landed a few hits himself – the gnawer's right arm was a gashing wound, the fur was burned – Henry had sliced at it to defend Thanatos when Longclaw had grabbed his leg. Further, he had managed to leave a burn mark across his face, a direct hit, that had made the big rat cry in pain.

Overall, the battle was very equal. Henry had his echolocation and the burning sword, to keep his opponent at a distance, and there was Thanatos, with his ability to fly. Longclaw himself was a versed fighter, apparently used to battling multiple opponents at once.

A memory of a similar fight – against a single rat, on foot – flashed in his mind, and for a second he saw Goldfang again, the triumph he had felt when he had managed to defeat her, and the anxiety that battle had brought. He had never fought a rat on his own before. Now, after so many victories in the arena and the sparring with Kismet, the thought not even frightened him anymore. How far he had come, Henry thought, and smirked.

In fact, the battle seemed to be way too equal for Longclaw's taste. Henry had hoped he would have enough respect for the rules of his own arena to fight fairly, but then again – it was Longclaw, so he wasn't really surprised to find that wasn't the case.

Henry was so focused on the battle that he made the mistake to not notice the rat that had approached from the entrance of the arena. Longclaw slowly retreated in her direction, and before Henry noticed, he had taken the item she held out to him – and emptied it over his head.

The sensation of cold water to his face startled him for a second, and hadn't Thanatos seen what was going on and dove down, to dig his claws into Longclaw's outstretched paw, Henry would have surely been a goner.

The rat cried in pain and the exiled prince gained a second to realize what had happened – unbelievingly he stared at the still smoking sword in his hand – the rat had extinguished the fire.

But Thanatos couldn't keep Longclaw at bay for long, and when he leaped at Henry again, the exiled prince raised the sword to block his attack, but the huge gnawer simply caught the blade in his claw. His eyes stared down at Henry triumphantly when he tightened his grip – until the metal blade shattered into pieces in his grasp.

For a second, Henry stared at the handle he was still holding in his hand, unbelievingly, all that had remained of his sword was a jagged piece of steel, shorter than even Mys.

In the last second, he dodged the gnawer's talons and rolled off to the side, still trying to comprehend Longclaw had just destroyed his sword, the one piece of equipment he still had from before his exile. But the battle left him no time to dwell on it.

Henry knew he needed to fight on, he needed a new weapon. He had already extended his hand to the handle of Charos when he suddenly perceived something in his back. He was barely able to stop, before running directly into the blade the rat, that had given Longclaw the water bucket earlier, held to his back.

"Oh no, no, no... Silverchild, you leave that sword exactly where it is", the almost pleasant voice rang in his ears and Henry immediately knew the battle was over.

The audience had apparently realized the challenger was defeated too. Their cheers for their leader were deafening.

Longclaw now approached, his smug grin was almost unbearable. When Thanatos landed closeby, Tonguetwist only pressed the blade – Henry's own old dagger – into his bond's back harder, chirping "If you so much as attempt to take another step closer, flier, he will die."

That put Thanatos out of action, he would never risk the life of his bond. Not even if it meant the death of Longclaw.

Henry's mind was reeling, he refused to die like this, to this rat, the very same one that had already killed him in the eyes of his friends and family. She might have taken that from him, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of taking his life too. Besides, he wasn't ready to die regardless. Henry saw Luxa's hopeful face, he saw Teslas, Curie, Kismet... he was yet to see them all again. Then he threw a glance at Thanatos – all their plans came to mind, the unfinished saddle he hadn't properly seen in action yet, crossing the waterway, going on new adventures...

No, Henry knew for sure he was not ready to die. And he would not – he had no plans to.

He tightened his grip on the handle with the broken remains of his sword. What would Kismet do, rang in his ears, like always in situations like this, ever since he had trained with her.

"Oh Silverchild, this is a fine mess you have gotten yourself into", Tonguetwist snarled. "You are surrounded, with a knife to your back. If I were you, I'd give up!"

_If I were you, I'd give up!_ He suddenly heard the words in Luxa's overjoyed voice, when she had managed to corner him in a pretend-fight, back when they had been just children. Then, Henry smirked.

He raised an eyebrow condescendingly, turning his head in Tonguetwist's direction – "If you were me, I'd be ugly!"

It worked. For a split second, a confused and insulted expression appeared on her face, she lowered the dagger a little – and in that moment, Henry raised his hand and rammed what had remained of his sword with all his strength into her neck.

She sounded a surprised shriek, that soon turned into a gurgling noise, as blood started dripping from her mouth. Henry stared her in the almost unnervingly blue eyes, he found he was relishing the unbelieving expression in them. She had truly thought herself invincible, he thought.

"Small tip, distractions can be deadly, as someone much smarter than you once told me. But I guess you learned that the hard way", he smirked. "I'll make sure to greet your daughter, you told me so much about, if I ever meet her, from you!"

With his words, the life faded from her eyes and her body fell to the ground. She was dead.

Only when she was lying motionlessly at his feet, Henry realized the arena was dead-silent. Then, a sharp, pained cry pierced the silence, the exiled prince barely had the time to turn around when Longclaw leaped at him, naked fury and hatred in his eyes.

He wouldn't have been fast enough to dodge, hadn't Thanatos rammed the gnawer in the side, throwing him off course. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!", Longclaw screamed, baring his teeth.

Henry's hand reached up for Charos and this time no silver rat hindered him from drawing it. He leaped to the side to dodge another incoming attack and saw Thanatos diving for him. He recognized the maneuver from their training with Kismet and anticipated the flier lifting him off the floor, by the straps of the sheaths of the swords.

They unanimously sounded a shrieking battle cry. Thanatos gained altitude, flew a loop and sped up, before tossing Henry directly at Longclaw. The rat was unfocused now, having witnessed the death of who the exiled prince presumed had been his lover, or at least a close familiar, and the two managed to catch him by surprise.

When Henry flew at him, Charos outstretched, he had no time to dodge. The black blade tore a gash right across his torso, forming almost a perfect "x" with the old scar, Thanatos had made, all those years ago.

Henry had to let go of Charos to roll off, but when he stood again and picked the blade back up, he saw Longclaw was a goner. The gash was so deep Henry saw some of his guts spill out. He staggered a few steps towards the exiled prince and Thanatos, who had landed behind him and then collapsed on the floor, his claw still reaching for them. The look that froze on his face when he died, was not far from Tonguetwist's last expression, a mix of unbelieving and hatred.

But that hatred was forever extinguished now, together with the life in his body, like it should have been a long time ago already.

The rats around them were dead silent for a moment, most likely unable to believe their leader was actually dead. But Henry knew they would attack soon, attempting to avenge him.

He looked at Thanatos, they needed to get out of here. His bond understood and when Henry started running and leaped up, legs spread, he caught him, only seconds before the first furious rat had caught up to them. It screeched in frustration and Thanatos quickly gained altitude to escape their claws for good.

"Where too?", he asked, and at first, Henry glanced around, looking for a way out of the giant cave, but then he remembered something – "Dalia", he muttered, "she is still here somewhere."

Thanatos understood. He dodged the rats and flew a circle, still unsure where to go though.

"The prison", Henry said on a hunch. He could honestly not imagine a scenario in which she hadn't ended up in prison as well, no matter if they had discovered she had freed the bats or not.

Thanatos dove into the tunnel that led to the cave with the prison, immediately followed by their pursuers. This would be close. "You ready?", Henry asked, patting his head encouragingly, his flier nodded. "It's whatever. Nothing against flinging you at Longclaw." Henry just chuckled.

They reached the prison hole a little ahead of the rats only to see new guards had been posted – for a new prisoner.

"You were right", Thanatos called, as they saw a lone figure sitting in the pit, arms wrapped around herself. When she noticed the commotion, she raised her head, and Thanatos just about managed to grab her arm before gaining altitude again.

Dalia shrieked and the flier had an even harder time dodging the rats who were still after him, with the additional weight, especially in the narrow tunnel, but eventually, they reached the exit and soon soared high in the air, maybe a hundred feet above their pursuers.

Henry glanced down and saw the rats break into panic, they were visibly disoriented without their leader, without a goal or purpose.

It is over, he finally thought, glancing at the broken handle of the sword he was still firmly gripping.

It is finally over.


	25. Mercy

Thanatos didn't fly far, not with Dalia still dangling from his claw the way she was. He entered a tunnel, maybe a hundred feet up, that led away from the arena, and when they reached the first cave he simply dropped her on the floor before landing himself.

Henry remembered how the flier had dropped him in a similar manner, back when they had first met and he had carried him away from the bottom of the cliff.

She shrieked and when Henry mounted down to approach her, he realized they were standing in complete darkness. He could perceive his surroundings well, but Dalia was probably scared out of her mind.

When the torch he had lit finally illuminated the cave, he could see her face for the first time. Expressions weren't really what he focused on when he used sounds to see.

She was staring at him with widened eyes, fear and uncertainty were written all over her face. Henry saw the purple bags under her eyes had grown and she looked haggard, almost like a walking corpse.

When he took a step towards her, she stumbled backward, until her back hit the wall. She cried in surprise before pressing herself against it, not leaving him out of her sight.

She is scared of me, Henry realized and wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that.

"We will not take our anger out on you if that is what you fear", Thanatos suddenly spoke, approaching her from the other side. Her head jolted in his direction, then back to Henry.

The exiled prince saw Dalia was shaking. "You... why did you... save me?" Her voice sounded quiet and meekly.

He exchanged a glance with Thanatos and hesitated. Why... did he save her? Truthfully, Henry didn't really know himself. There was just something about this entire situation, that... resonated with him. He knew he wasn't sympathizing with her or thought she deserved mercy. But then, why did he save her?

Suddenly he knew. "Because... I want to know the reason."

Dalia widened her eyes even more at first, before angrily squinting them again. "Why would you care?"

"I cared enough to risk my life by saving you", he shot back.

She was silent for a moment. "That is... exactly what I don't understand. Longclaw told me –"

"Longclaw is dead", Henry simply stated, "and so is, who I presume was your best friend, Tonguetwist."

Dalia gasped and stared at him in shock again. "W... what? How...?"

"We killed them. That's how", Thanatos chuckled a little, "oddly enough it was thanks to you that we could. Because you freed us."

Henry looked back at her and saw she was clenching her fist. "Why did you do that? What was the plan?", he shot at her, suddenly furious again.

Dalia swallowed and looked to the floor. "There was no plan. I just...", Henry noticed tears had risen in her eyes. She sunk to the floor until she was sitting in the same position in which they had found her in the pit, legs pulled to her chest, not looking at them.

"You realized they had lied." It wasn't a question Henry asked, it was a statement. "You realized whatever they had promised you was false and that they would kill you anyway. That you had traded your loyalty for nothing. And you had nothing to lose."

She looked up at him, Henry saw the tearstains on her cheeks. "You... I... I wanted to..."

"Why?", Henry now kneeled before her, torch in hand, firmly holding her gaze. "I need to know... why. Everyone has a reason. You do too. What is it? What is your story?", quieter he added, "I'm most likely the only one who will listen to it anyway. Or do you think any of them will care, back in civilization?"

She sobbed, angrily wiping away her tears. "Civilization? How would I even get back there?", she hesitated, "What reason do you have to take me there? You are an outcast, you have no allegiance to the Fount or the humans in general, do you?", she laughed dryly, staring at him with bitter resolve, "you only went on this quest to kill Longclaw. Don't... ACT like you're ANY BETTER THAN ME!"

Her words struck a nerve, Henry attempted to keep his collected face up, he cared little for her noticing her words had phased him. Because in truth... she wasn't wrong. What... right did he... HE, out of all people, have, to judge her or decide her fate?

"I just want to know why, that's all", his voice was cold now and he averted his gaze, "Why would you... throw away everything you have like this? What did they offer you to make it seem worth it?"

To his surprise, Dalia snorted. "Throw away everything I have? That's a good question and all, but it kind of becomes pointless when you consider I never... had anything to throw away."

Henry turned in her direction. "You... you must have had something... a family at least?"

Dalia scoffed but averted her eyes. "The only true family I have is my brother whom I had to leave with a distant relative when I left Regalia to...", she bit her lip and suddenly looked at him again. Henry had barely ever seen so much bitterness in someone's eyes before.

"Do you think I... LIKE working for them? Do you think it is FUN to babysit a snotty, spoiled BRAT almost constantly, while being treated like SHIT by everyone and getting paid so little you have to send it all back to Regalia for your brother, to buy him an education so that he can have a better life than yourself?"

Her voice got louder and louder the more she talked – "I have been working my ass off every day for those people for YEARS, but do they ever show any sort of appreciation for what I am doing? No – all they do is nag, blame me when the brat gets in trouble, and load even more work on me! I have HAD it with being treated like this, all I wanted was enough money to be able to finally leave them and afford a better life for me and Ian – I haven't even seen him more than a couple times over the five years I have worked at the Fount – is THIS THE STORY YOU WANTED TO HEAR?"

She was nearly screaming by the end of it, Henry saw the tears streaming out of her eyes and her fists were angrily clenched. "I hate my life... every second of it. The only reason I haven't ended it yet is Ian..."

Henry was frozen in place, staring at her in shock. He had expected something entirely different. Something similar to his own story, but this... He knew Stellovet was usually not easy to be around, let alone responsible for, but he hadn't even considered Dalia could feel mistreated.

His thoughts inadvertently went back to when he himself still had had servants. He had not wasted a single thought on whether they liked their work or what consequences his own behavior had had for them.

It was a story like he had never heard before, and yet it was most likely not just Dalia's, but that of many.

"And Tonguetwist approached you... and offered you a way out?", his voice was hushed.

Dalia did not look at him. "We met during one of mine and Stellovet's trips to the lake. She behaved especially badly that day, she played a prank on me at the end of which I was subtracted an entire month's wage. I didn't... want to talk to a rat at first, but..."

"... But she talked her way into your heart, twisted your thoughts and viewpoints until she had almost complete control over you. Let me guess – something along the lines of "you are better than this" and "you deserve much more than life gives you" – over "helping us kidnap Stellovet will feel satisfying after all she had done to you" to "help us lure the future queen into a trap and we will reward you with enough money to buy yourself the life you and your brother deserve"."

Dalia stared at him in shock, most likely at how accurate his guesses had been. "You...", suddenly her eyes widened, "you... know her, don't you?"

Henry sighed. "We were... old... acquaintances", he gritted his teeth, "She needed to finally die before she could ruin any more lives."

Dalia remained silent for a moment, before starting to nervously knot her hands. "You... you were... like me..."

Henry averted his eyes. "Oh no. I was not like you. Not even remotely."

Her look was questioning, and he continued – "You said it yourself, you did it because you had nothing to lose. I... I risked and lost... everything."

It was hard to remain calm at how pointless his own reason compared to hers had been. She was not so much older than him, yet the things she had had to worry about and deal with, Henry had never had the reason to bother with. He felt like a child just talking to her.

"But... if you did this because the rats promised you money to support your family, I still don't understand why you... freed us in the end", Thanatos suddenly spoke and Dalia bit her lip.

"You realized they were not planning to keep their word", Henry repeated what he had assumed earlier. He chuckled dryly – "Never trust a rat. I learned that the hard way... and I guess so did you."

"Except for Ripred", Thanatos interrupted and Henry rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"... and Kismet", the flier continued, "and –", the exiled prince shushed him, slightly annoyed – "Okay, okay I get it, some rats can be trusted, but THAT'S NOT THE POINT NOW."

Dalia remained silent, only after a few quiet moments she finally asked – "So... what are you planning to do with me now...?"

Henry and Thanatos exchanged glances. "There are really only two options", the exiled prince pondered, "we can take you back to the Fount to receive your just sentence – or we can leave you here."

"So I die in any case", her voice was dry and almost apathetic, like she had already accepted her fate. "Executed in Regalia or die here, by whatever means."

Henry put his hands to his hips. "That is the fate of traitors. Execution... or exile."

Around two hours had passed when Henry, Dalia, and Thanatos were sitting at the lake, eating fish. The exiled prince was mindlessly twirling around his old dagger that he had decided to go and fetch from Longclaw's camp. And they had not just found the dagger – looting the place had turned out extremely profitable, the rats had stored tons of goods.

And then there had been Gorger's... Luxa's father's... old crown. Apparently, Longclaw had not just found Henry's dagger with the king, the human crown he had also taken, presumably already in preparation for crowning himself king someday. It was now safely stored in his backpack, Henry had decided it would be for the best to take it back to the Fount and give it to Luxa... where it belonged.

The only thing he and Thanatos were still unsure about was whether to take Dalia with them or not. She had not expressed a preference so far, and yet Henry had a feeling she did not like the thought of being sentenced to death by the very people she despised so much.

Henry was in the process of dissecting a fish with Mys when Dalia finally asked for the dagger. He had seen her staring at it during the quest, but she had never made a remark about it.

"Is... that the tooth of a gnawer?", she scooted a little closer, inspecting Mys more thoroughly.

Henry smiled a little. "Not just any gnawer too. This –", he narrowed his eyes, tracing the curve of the blade with a finger, his voice dripping with spite, "is the tooth I hacked off the rotting carcass of the rat that had tried to drag me with him over the edge of a cliff to death after I had tried everything in my power to help him. It's the tooth of king Gorger."

Dalia's eyes widened in shock. "You... you... so you were..."

"... a traitor? We already knew that, didn't we?"

Suddenly it crossed Henry's mind it might have not been the smartest idea to tell her that. What if they ended up taking her back and she told everyone? He would never be able to show his face to them again.

A minute of silence went by, in which the only sound was the quiet crackling of the fire.

"You... you fell off a cliff... with king Gorger?", Dalia's voice was hushed and Henry suddenly wondered if he had told her too much.

"But the only one who...", she paused for a second and when Henry looked at her, her eyes were big and round. "... You are... but, that is impossible... you have to be... Prince... Henry...!"

He winced at the name and Thanatos' head jolted up from where he had lied and rested. "How...?", but she didn't let the flier finish. Her entire face looked like she could almost not believe her own words, yet she continued talking – "Everyone knows the story, he... you... fell off a cliff with king Gorger, but..."

Suddenly her eyes expressed confusion, "but... no... that is impossible, there was never any mention of prince Henry being a...", she stared at him, wide-eyed. "You... are you...?"

Henry exchanged a glance with Thanatos. There was really no use denying it anymore. "I know, I do not look very royal at the moment, after nearly one and a half years in exile, but your memory served you well." Then he hesitated, "Though, what do you mean by... "there was never any mention of prince Henry being a..." – a what?"

"A traitor", she mumbled, still visibly struggling to believe he was who he was.

"What?", Henry's head jolted in her direction. "What do you mean, there was never any mention... Did they not... shout it from all rooftops?" His voice was bitter, but Dalia simply shook her head.

"They said prince Henry died during the quest to fulfill the Prophecy of Gray. That he was killed by king Gorger when he dragged him off the edge of a cliff."

A hundred thoughts reeled in his mind at once. Why hadn't they told the people the truth? Who... even knew it? Luxa and the rest of the questers did, obviously. Vikus and Solovet? The council? Henry suddenly asked himself if Mareth knew.

Dalia snorted a little, averting her eyes. "I assume they kept it secret to not sully the reputation of the oh-so-perfect royal family. A traitor from their midst... if people knew, they would not take well to it."

Henry was still shocked, but he also saw that she had a point. "Well, you know now", his voice was dry. "Feel special yet?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she stared at him intensely, Henry realized she still had trouble believing all of this. Like in a daze she mumbled – "You helped me... with my chores... during the quest."

Henry furrowed his brows. "Yes, what about it? Gregor, Howard, and Luxa did too if I remember correctly."

But Dalia completely ignored him. She was staring at her hands now and Henry saw she was biting her lip.

"She has most likely never been treated kindly by any royalty, exiled or not", Thanatos' voice suddenly spoke from behind him and Henry mustered her – "Was that also why you decided to help us in the end?", he asked on a whim, "because we treated you well during the quest?"

Her head jolted up. "I... I thought I hated you... all of you", Henry was almost certain she referred to royals and nobles, "but then... I kept seeing the Overlander's kind face, hearing you telling me helping is not a big deal, and the queen... the future queen... I would have not even known it was her, had she not worn her crown."

Henry recalled Luxa helping Dalia to make sandwiches and smiled. "Hey, listen, I know Stellovet can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but even she is not as wretched as you think." He remembered the conversation between her and Howard, that he had heard. "She blamed herself, you know?"

Dalia furrowed her brows in disbelief, but Henry continued. "For your betrayal. Back in the prison, she cried, regretting how she had treated you. For all it's worth, she at least learned a lesson from all this."

"She... did?", the young woman sounded unbelieving.

"Oh yes", Henry threw her a short smile. Then his face grew serious and he exchanged a glance with Thanatos. "However... As you know who I am now, I guess that makes our decision easier, as to what to do with you." Henry knew he could never let her back into civilization with this knowledge.

But Dalia clenched her fist determinately. "What... do you mean? I...", she hesitated, "I want you to take me back."

Both Henry's and Thanatos' heads jolted up. "You realize your chances of survival are bigger out here, right?", the flier asked, but Dalia simply bit her lip. "I don't care. I... I want to go back because I want to... I want them to hear the story you just heard. I want to... I want to see my brother one last time, I want to tell him I did it for him, and maybe he will hate me less, then. In any case, I do not want to vanish out of existence just like that, I do not want my brother to ask himself what happened to me for the rest of his life, I..."

Henry was frozen in place, his mind was reeling. She was willing to go back and face the consequences of her actions, all for her brother – and the world to know the truth. Something within him suddenly started burning with frustration and anger, how... why would she... do this?

"I can not let you go back", his voice was cold now, "you know who I am and what I have done. It is out of the question."

Dalia looked at him in shock. "You would... deny me that?"

Henry narrowed his eyes. "I just told you why."

"But", she stammered, "I... I will not tell anyone – what reason would I even have to do so? I will be executed, you said that yourself. I will not... drag you down with me out of spite!" She sounded almost desperate.

"It doesn't matter, I can't risk it!", Henry called, Thanatos nudged him in the side, about to ask why he was so angry, but Dalia beat him to it. "And even IF I told them – what exactly would you lose?" Her tone was equally challenging now.

Henry hesitated and she continued on – "You would deny me to see my brother one last time because you are scared – of what exactly? It's not like they would send the army after you if they found out you were alive! No, in fact, nothing would change for you! You could remain here, in exile, that you are apparently so accustomed to already, and nobody would bother you. So what is your point?!"

Henry stared at her, taken aback by her determination. He knew exactly what his point was – what he would lose. "Yes. And I could never see them... any of them... ever again." His voice was dry and cold.

"So you are willing to trade my last chance to see my family... against THE LOW RISK of losing your own?" She scoffed, "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you royals are all the same after all."

Gregor had just finished packing for his trip back to Regalia. It was the day after they had come back, Stellovet's parents had been overjoyed to have their daughter back, though shocked by what Dalia had done. "Oh well, at least she got what she deserved", York had simply remarked, and then they had dropped the topic. Luxa and Gregor had exchanged glances but remained silent.

Hera and her pups had been well-received as well, they had been permitted to stay for as long as they wished, and had gladly accepted the offer.

Now Gregor and Luxa were standing in the entrance hall, together with Ares and Aurora, in the midst of saying goodbye to York, Susannah, and their children – even Stellovet. It seemed like the little adventure had left its impact on her, Gregor remembered seeing her and Luxa talk after they had arrived here. Maybe things would be better between her and all her Fount-cousins, after this, he thought and smiled.

Then, the door was suddenly flung open. "Here... Death Rider... PHUH...", one of the guards heaved, trying to catch his breath, from most likely running all the way here from the main gates.

That moment a bat soared into the room, above his head, and Gregor saw it was Thanatos. Luxa's face immediately lightened up, as did Stellovet's. Gregor felt he was happy the outcast was alive as well and curiously eyed the black bat, while he flew across the room only to land directly on the huge table in the middle.

The Death Rider slid off his back – he wore a cocky grin and, Gregor blinked a few times, but no, his eyes were not deceiving him – on his head sat a big golden crown. Gregor thought he had seen the crown before, but he couldn't say when or where.

The outcast jumped off the table and strolled over to them. "As you can all see – we are alive and well – and Longclaw is dead. So no reason to worry about him anymore." Gregor felt relief hearing that. One enemy less was good news.

Then, the Death Rider turned to Luxa. "I have something for you", he grabbed the crown, took it off and held it out to her. "We were looting the rats' camp and found it. It was the crown of Gorger – and if I recall correctly, before that, it belonged to your father. It is rightfully yours now."

Luxa stared at him with big eyes and Gregor realized where he had seen the crown before – squeezed onto one of Gorger's ears when they had witnessed the death of the rat king.

She slowly took the crown from him, smiling a little. "Thank you. I will not forget it was you who brought it back to me. And you who slew Longclaw. We all owe you."

The Death Rider smiled a little. "Then you will certainly not mind me calling in that favor now." He waved at Thanatos and all eyes fell on the bat, who had gotten off the table and now took a step aside to reveal –

Every guard in the room instantly drew their swords when they saw the thin figure of Dalia step out of the shadow of Thanatos' wing.

"And that favor is – I'd like you all to lower your swords... and hear her out."

Henry grinned down at the silken glove he was holding, that Stellovet had given him when he had told her Longclaw had destroyed his. It was much too small for him, but she had still insisted on him keeping it. To never forget her. Who'd have thought she had it in her? And all it had taken was being kidnapped by rats, if he had only known that sooner, Henry chuckled.

At first, they had wanted to throw Dalia into the dungeon immediately to have her executed, without a trial and without giving her the chance to explain herself.

It had mostly fallen onto Henry to tell them what she had done, what had been the reason for her actions – and how she had, and was still ready to, atone for it.

It had essentially turned into something like an improvised trial, with York and Susannah as the judges, Dalia as the accused, and Henry as her advocate. He had brought her back without any hope she might live, and even his defense had been all about her being allowed to see her brother one last time and not actually bringing her sentence down – but neither he nor anyone else had foreseen how far the ordeals of imprisonment had left their marks on Stellovet.

After listening to her story and essentially everything she had already told Henry before, Stellovet had stood up. Her father had thrown her a death glare that said "sit down, it is not for you to talk now", but she had simply ignored him.

"You truly suffered so much from what I did?", she said, her face had been grave-serious. Dalia had only nodded and Stellovet had raised her voice again – "In that case, shouldn't I take some of the blame for what she did on myself?"

The room had broken into confused and aggravated murmur and Henry had heard York hiss "Sit back down, you have no idea what you are doing!", but his daughter had still not minded him any attention. She had approached Dalia instead. "I...", she hesitated, "I wish to apologize, in that case." Her head had hung low and Henry didn't recall ever having seen her so humble before. It had not just been him either – at that point, the entire room had been dead-silent.

"I do not want you to die for this", she continued, "I do not want you to die at all. If you die, I will...", she had broken off, but Henry thought she had wanted to say she would lose her only possible girl friend. There weren't many girls her age around to talk to, and he assumed Stellovet had always secretly viewed Dalia as a friend. The fact that she had mistreated her only meant that she hadn't known how to treat a friend previously, not that she disliked her.

Dalia's eyes had been wide and shocked, and nobody had dared protest when Stellovet had addressed her directly. "If I promise to... try and behave better from now on, would you... would you like to stay here? I am sure we can do something for your brother too..."

The young woman hadn't had any words, she just nodded.

Then, York raised his voice finally – "This is absurd, she is a traitor, why would we keep her here? She needs to be executed."

"Because if she hadn't freed the fliers, I WOULD BE DEAD NOW. And so would LUXA, GREGOR, AND HOWARD!", Stellovet screamed. Even her father had been taken aback enough by her tone to remain silent for a moment.

"I want HER TO LIVE!", Stellovet called, putting her hands to her hips. "I want her to live – to be reunited with her brother – and to stay here! If we sentence her to death now, we would condemn her brother to death as well, after all."

It had taken almost the entire day but in the end, Stellovet had at least partially gotten her wish. Dalia hadn't been pardoned, but she had been sentenced to work for Stellovet and the family at the Fount for the rest of her life – free of charge. It was forbidden for her to leave the estate without guards, but she had been allowed to invite her brother to live with them and be cared for as well.

Henry suspected York and Susannah had given in out of love for their daughter and Stellovet had been overjoyed. Henry had seen Howard's sister take her hands, after the trial had been over, and firmly reassure her things would change from now on. She would never suffer from mistreatment or Stellovet's own behavior ever again.

Dalia had glanced at Henry, in a moment when nobody had paid attention, and whispered "thank you... your secret is safe with me for eternity, I promise. You have given me my family back, and I will not take yours from you."

Now, maybe half a day after the trial was over and they had left the fount, he and Thanatos were resting in a cave near the Firelands. Henry threw a glance at his bond, who was eyeing him with half-closed, amber eyes.

"She... went back. She went back voluntarily and risked death just to tell her story, to assure her loved ones she wasn't dead."

As proud as he had been of himself for confronting his past by helping his friends and family as the Death Rider, Henry realized he was still scared of them finding out who he was. And Dalia had... not even hesitated to go back, admit and atone for her mistakes.

He twisted Stellovet's glove in his hand. Was that why he had been so unwilling to take her back with him? Was he... jealous of her?

"She placed her life in their hands... and reaped the gain." Thanatos' voice sounded and Henry turned to him. Those words had sounded awfully familiar. "Was that... from the Prophecy of the Death Rider?"

His bond chuckled. "Who can really tell? If there is hope for her, maybe there is...", but Henry interrupted him immediately. He refused to even think of such a thing, out of fear it would turn out to be a false hope.

"Do not cite the prophecy on me, you hear!", he snarled, before continuing in a much more cheerful tone – "You know what, Death, I think I had enough of humans for a while."

His bond raised a symbolic eyebrow. Henry sighed. Way too many images of Luxa and the others clustered his thoughts, visions, scenarios of them finding out, of their reaction, of his own fate afterward. He needed a break to declutter his mind.

"I... I am itching for an adventure, somewhere...", he pondered, "you know, explore something new – just, go somewhere where nobody knows me, the old me, somewhere where I don't have to pretend constantly, where I don't have to watch my every word and action to not accidentally give myself away. I am tired, Death... tired of... pretending I still belong with them."

Henry remembered a time when he had longed for their presence, their attention, and love. Now he was so agitated he was tempted to throw Stellovet's glove into the fire.

His bond leaped down from the ledge where he had been hanging and eyed Henry curiously. Many questions burned in his eyes, concerns, objections – but all he said was – "And where would this "new land" be?"

Henry grinned. "Oh, I don't know – maybe south of the rat's land, or north of Regalia, west of the Dead Land – or east of the jungle and the citadel. Have you ever been to any of those places?"

Thanatos grinned. "Beyond the maps? No – nobody goes beyond the maps. Nobody sane, that is."

"Well, then it seems like the perfect place for us", was all Henry said, and they exchanged a glance. No words needed.


	26. Epilogue

"Are you finally done? Geez, if getting into this thing will always take this long, maybe making it wasn't worth it after all." Thanatos' voice sounded slightly annoyed and Henry tried to kick him, but couldn't.

"Yep, I have now successfully achieved not being able to move my legs anymore. You proud of me?" Thanatos just laughed.

The exiled prince inspected every single one of the straps, that tied him firmly to the saddle contraption around the flier's neck.

After they had decided to leave for the uncharted lands, a few weeks ago, they had agreed to first go back to the nibbler colony and finally finish the saddle design, as well as tell everyone they would be gone for a while. With a lot of help from Teslas and many, many failed attempts later, Henry was now finally satisfied with it.

He eyed the new leather gear he had made for his legs, specifically to keep him in place while flying. They looked like the front halves of boots he could wear over his normal footwear. They were tied to straps around his upper legs in the front and in the back so that he could not move his legs at all, that were firmly fixated in a fairly comfortable position, where the knee was slightly bent.

Henry pulled at the straps one last time to make sure they were as tight as possible.

The belts around his upper legs were firmly connected to the saddle itself and would hold him on Thanatos' back, together with the straps that tied the belt around his waist to the saddle.

Henry knew his bond was right, it took forever to get into the gear, but then again, it worked like a charm – at last. The fact that his legs were fixated in place distributed his own weight better, which made the whole thing more comfortable for both flier and rider, and like this, it was utterly impossible to fall, or be otherwise torn off Thanatos' back.

Henry grinned when he thought of how he had claimed he didn't need anything to hold himself on the flier's back, even when upside down, when they had conducted the very first test.

"Right, you packed everything too? It's not like we'll be coming back tomorrow", Thanatos tilted his head at Henry on his back and threw him an "I know you'll nag later because you ended up forgetting SOMETHING"-glance, but the exiled prince dismissively waved his hand. "What is there to forget? It's not like I own much more than the contents of my backpack."

His hand almost automatically reached to count his weapons – there was Charos with the long, dual-handed handle, right next to it was his original sword. Henry had brought Teslas what had remained of it and asked the nibbler to reforge it, which he had gladly done.

Turned out he had wanted to do that anyway at some point, as he had apparently found a way to apply the ignifer during the forging-process, making it a firm part of the sword's components. Henry had stared at him with big, unbelieving eyes when Teslas had taken the freshly reforged sword, grated a firestone against it, and it had lit up instantly.

No more wasting time applying any sort of substance, the nibbler had grinned, and Henry had grinned back.

In accordance with that, carrying ignifer had become nearly pointless – he still had a small dosage of it, just in case, safely stored in his waterproof container – and Henry had started referring to the sword itself as "the Igniter" since it literally ignited on fire. It wasn't an official name, not yet at least, but a nice way to set it apart from all his other weapons when talking about them.

And now that the blade was smooth and new again and glistened in many colors when you held it close to a light source – from whatever Teslas had put into it – it was finally able to compete with all his other blades again.

Then, his hand moved down to the back of his hip and gripped the handle of Mys, which was at its usual spot. And finally, down to his right leg where he had fastened his old dagger, that he had taken from Tonguetwist.

All there.

His backpack with all his other belongings he was wearing, and what hadn't fit into it was safely stored in Thanatos' – well, he guessed he could call them that now – saddlebags.

"Let's go", he called, a grin spreading on his face. He glanced over the edge of the cliff the flier was cowering over, beneath it the foaming waves of the waterway. They were almost at the exact same spot where they had started their first journey over the waterway from.

Thanatos leaped in the air, reeling around a little before he finally catching a good current that propelled him forward and carried him almost on its own accord so that he was able to conserve some energy. He would need all of it, after all, during the next what Henry had estimated would be around fifty hours.

"So we are actually doing this", the flier chuckled, maybe ten minutes in. Henry grinned. "Did you think I would forget? You promised me we'll one day cross the waterway – and we ARE crossing the waterway. You are not getting yourself out of that one."

"Won't you die of boredom though?", the flier mocked, but Henry simply shrugged, "Not this time. This time, I have the saddle to occupy myself with. I hope you are up for some experimenting!"

Thanatos sighed, presumably contemplating how much of his precious energy would have to be wasted on Henry's experiments, but the exiled prince knew he wanted to see the thing in action as well.

He glanced ahead, letting his imagination run wild with what may lie beyond the vast ocean, behind what humans had explored of the Underland so far – beyond, above, below. Those were the things he wanted to occupy his mind with now, not having to bother with keeping up a silly cover or pretending to not be who he was – Henry of... Regalia?

Henry of the Dead Land, he thought, the thought made him chuckle. Should he add that to his growing list of titles?

It was almost crazy to think about how much had changed in what now were one and a half years of exile – more or less. He knew he wasn't who he had been before all this happened anymore, yet he knew he liked who he was now. He was proud of and enjoyed the things he had learned, the knowledge he was capable of taking care of himself – it gave him a feeling of almost limitless power.

He knew he should probably not assume he was invincible, like Kismet had warned, but to hell with it – he was an incredibly powerful warrior now, and he liked dwelling on it, it was good for his confidence.

Henry thought back to how powerless and weak he had felt after losing his eye and grinned when he realized he had been right – he had climbed out of that rock bottom like he had out of the first one.

Come at me – he wanted to scream into the world, come at... us. Thanatos and he... they could take it all. Together. And only... together. As many new and amazing things as he had learned so far, some of those lessons had been painful... and had almost broken him. Almost.

Together, he thought. Henry had noticed usually, whenever he said he had done or still wanted to do something, he meant himself and Thanatos. He found it hard to even think of them as separate entities anymore.

It was almost ironic, he thought, considering I was so close to losing him not even that long ago. They had experienced, in the worst imaginable way, how life without each other would be, and it had strengthened their bond, in a way like nothing else could have.

Henry smiled – it was nice knowing he was not alone. And that he would never be again. Especially considering he was literally tied to Thanatos' back at the moment.

He tugged at the belts of the saddle one last time, then, without warning, pulled the rotation lever. This time he had enough control to let go of it immediately, and the saddle snapped into position in a ninety-degree-sideways-angle. Thanatos, startled by the shift in weight, almost lost control of his flight, hissing "hey, you could maybe warn me next time!", but Henry only laughed. He was sitting firmly in the saddle, even though he was now on Thanatos' left side – the footgear worked fantastically.

"Eh, this is weird... having you on the side is throwing off my balance", the flier complained and Henry noticed he was struggling to keep himself straight in the air.

He pulled the lever again and the saddle rotated another ninety degrees, he was now sitting upside down. Again, not even the slightest budging from the gear – he was not falling, no matter if he held on or not.

"Sideways only for short amounts of time then", Henry called, grinning from ear to ear. I am the first human to sit on a flier upside-down, he thought and in his mind, he started imagining what kinds of stunts they could pull with this equipment now. Until Thanatos suddenly lost height.

The exiled prince shrieked in shock when the flier sunk so low Henry's head dipped into the water. Snorting and coughing he managed to pull himself up into the normal position and hissed "the hell did you do that for!", at Thanatos, but the flier just laughed. "I could have warned you, I guess. But... you didn't warn me either when you first activated it."

Henry wanted to be mad, he really did – his hair was soaking now and plastered across his face, he wiped it away angrily. But then again – it's not like he wouldn't have done the same, were he the flier.

"This is going to take some practice", Henry pondered, beginning to rotate again. He made a full circle this time, and Thanatos nodded. "It is weird for me too, having your weight in all sorts of places. But there is no denying this will make us considerably stronger and especially unpredictable in battle, once we master it."

"Well, we have fifty hours now. Let's get a head start", Henry laughed. He stopped rotating while sitting upside down again, stretched his hand out and touched the water.

At this very moment, Henry felt the full sensation of freedom, one of his favorite things about exile. Still upside down, he stared out into the open and knew there were no limits, no boundaries, no rules, and no restraints that could ever hold him – them.

"Let the vacation begin!", he screamed, and ignored Thanatos' "since when is a trip to the uncharted lands a VACATION?"

Because that was exactly what it was.

* * *

Thank you so much for finishing part 2 as well! Now please treat yourself to the outro-video I made, it contains information on the SEQUEL and shares CONCEPT ART I made for this story.

I apologize for the poor quality on some of the pictures, my slideshow maker screwed that up.

yo u tu. be /xukACxWglbo [please remove the spaces for the link to work]


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